Solvay 72

Solvay 72, registration NY3081F, was built at Villeneuve la Garenne.  All information on this page was taken from Vagus-Vagrant.fr unless otherwise specified.

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 72 was scrapped at the end of 1975..

Here she is in Carrières-sous-Poissey on the Seine:

With Solvay 115 in a lock on the Belgian Meuse:

Undated photo with no location given: