The Arcadia and two of her eight Mules
The Ships are guided though the lock chambers by electric locomotives, known as mulas or mules. They are used for side-to-side and braking control in the rather narrow locks. Forward motion into and through the locks is actually provided by the ship's engines and not the mules'. A ship approaching the locks first pulls up to the guide wall, where she is taken under control by the mules on the wall before proceeding into the lock. As she moves forward, additional lines are taken to mules on the other wall. With large ships, there are two mules on each side at the bow, and two each side at the stern — eight in total, allowing for precise control of the ship.
The mules themselves run on rack tracks, to which they are geared. Each mule has a powerful winch, operated by the driver; these are used to take the line in or pay it out, to keep the ship centred in the lock while moving it from chamber to chamber. With as little as 60 cm (2 ft) of space on each side of a ship, considerable skill is required on the part of the operators.
Right behind us the "Arcadia" , and we had an interesting view of how the lines from the mules were attached to her bow and stern.
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Franzi48 28. Juni 2011, 18:45
Ein Traumschiff, super abgelichtet++Lg Franzi
Michael Freisen 28. Juni 2011, 15:23
amazing that this small trains can pull such a great ship.greetings michael
Majid mehraban 27. Juni 2011, 20:13
++Segura Carmona 27. Juni 2011, 19:29
Magnífico Buque de gran belleza, preciosa luz y color, Saludos Amiga.Claudio Micheli 27. Juni 2011, 13:29
Interesting and very nice!Ciao
Sally Dunn 27. Juni 2011, 9:37
I like seeing all the people lined up on the decks watching proceedings! Why have they not all got cameras!!!!Hugs
Sally
Dragomir Vukovic 27. Juni 2011, 4:18
^^^melkart (pepe jaime) 26. Juni 2011, 21:42
Impresionante Adele. Muchas felicidadesmontse suarez-noguerol 26. Juni 2011, 21:08
Fantastica!!!!++++ saludos y un abrazophonya 26. Juni 2011, 20:06
I enjoy very much travelling with your great photoshow ... impressive photos and very informative descriptions. thanks a lot!!lg phonya
Pierre LAVILLE 26. Juni 2011, 19:53
Superbe++++++++
Amitiés et bonne soirée
Pierre
Canan Oner 26. Juni 2011, 15:11
Soon will be on my desk :-)))))Amazing image Adele...Thanks for the info..
Much hugs,
Canan
Jutta S 26. Juni 2011, 14:51
wie klein alles neben diesen gigantisch großen Schiffen ist, sehr gut gezeigt !LG Jutta
Silvia Simonato. 26. Juni 2011, 14:50
Impresionante encuadre, muy buena imagen!!!Saludos Silvia
ARTURO MEDINA 26. Juni 2011, 12:04
Adele muy buena photoUn saludo