Solvay 65

Solvay 65, registration NY3036F, was built in 1930 in Villeneuve la Garenne with a 25 hp Deutz engine. All information is taken from Vagus-Vagrant unless otherwise indicated.

It became a Panama barge in 1972. The small Solvay barges assigned to the Dombasle-Sarralbe service and the return trip carrying coal from the Saar to Dombasle were called the "Panamas". These boats didn't have a permanent crew. Their drivers were employees of the CGTVN (Compagnie Générale de Transports du Nord), the electric loco barge towing company, and later of Bargest. They would swap boats mid-journey when they met another one coming from the opposite direction, as did the locos. The control centre for this traffic had its office in Dombasle near the Pierre Escuras bridge. The first person in charge was Alfred Piant, whose sister ran the Spar grocery store at lock 22 in Dombasle. Two or three large Solvay barges ended their careers this way. Often, after years as Panama barges, they were scrapped in the dead end of the Dombasle port; Solvay 65 was scrapped at the end of 1975..

This is Solvay 65 during a flood of the Saar in Grosbliederstroff (57):

An undated photo with no location given:

Another picture of the rear:

At Trith-Saint-Léger on the Scheldt in the 1950s:

With other Solvays at Beuvry:

This was also at Beuvry, this time with Solvay 56