After stopping on my way home from work to check out the old Knifeworks Factory I found myself wandering further down the trail it resides on only to discover old canal locks which I now know to be part of the 2nd Canal system. This is another case of having driven by something every day for years and having no idea that it was there. This section is found just to the east of the 406 as it enters St. Catharines and winds west.

I walked for about half an hour down the trail, there was one lock just past the Knifeworks Factory and another one quite a hike past that. You can keep going until it eventually crosses the Via Rail line, in that distance you find a total of 7 locks. After which you will immediately find one more and then the canal will start to vanish and reappear again as parts have been buried. The majority of it from that point on is underground but you will find certain parts such as Mountain Locks Park next to The Keg (formerly the Rubber Factory), beyond that you’ll find a few scattered remains in backyards but almost everything has been covered over.

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After exploring Locks 11 & 12 near the Welland Canal Parklands I had to venture further upstream and check out the series of locks that leads up to the Thorold pondage area. There’s quite a few locks to check out and most are in pretty poor shape, much worse shape than even the 2nd Welland Canal remains. The locks are slightly wider (13.7m) than the 2nd Welland canal locks (8.1m) and appear to have retained none of the depth they once had. Many cars and other interesting objects can be seen looming just below the water’s surface. After traveling far enough up the canal you’ll find an old switch-blade style bridge that the CN Railway still runs over (though the bridge no longer changes positions). Should you venture far enough up you would eventually reach the area where the Blue Ghost Tunnel resides.

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