Judging from the lack of buildings to the south (left) of the locks in the distance, this drawing appears to have been done soon after the construction was completed.  The people standing on the roof of this packet boat for a better view had nowhere else to stand, as the boats of the original Erie were a mere seven to fifteen feet wide; and that left little if any room for walkways outside the already cramped cabins. Still, for those used to the horrible conditions of the roads of that day, gliding along through the countryside on the canal must have been a memorable thrill.

It's interesting to compare this scene with the one below.  Some buildings can be identified in both.  Also notice the design of the railing that the man above is leaning on and compare that with those below.  Remember though, that drawings aren't photographs, and that the dates may not be reliable.

This view looking northwest across the locks at Lockport appears to show a packet boat after having been "locked down" from the west.  Note the team of horses or mules at the end of the long towrope in the lower-right corner of the picture.

By the time the "Enlarged Erie" was completed, the scene at Lockport had changed dramatically.  A boat can just be seen locking down on the left (see larger view). The photograph below - which was taken years after this one - shows just how long each of those ten locks really is.  The locks on the right in this picture are still there today (see the last picture in this series below), but the gates have been missing for the past hundred years.  There's presently a proposal to restore those gates to their original design, but one of the problems is that the balance beams would protrude into the paved area on the right, which now is used by service vehicles that need to use that driveway.

Though we don't know the exact dates of this picture and the one above it, they're obviously taken years apart. Note the more modern bridge here, and in the very bottom right of this one is a retainer wall built in the water that's missing from the other view.  Was it built in anticipation of the construction for the Barge Canal enlargement (the retainer can just be seen in the picture of the 1912 construction of lock #34 below)?  Or was there some other purpose? 

These are the same locks again.  The boat in the distance appears to have just finished "locking down" through the locks on our right. The heavy "balance beams" extending from the tops of each of the gates served as more than just handles for the lock operators to push on.  The weight of the beams were designed to offset the weight of the gate to prevent sagging and the leaking that would result.  Carefully compare the beams of the two closest locks:  The two long poles that are elevated on the north lock (the one to the left) show that the "paddle valves" in the gate are closed, meaning that the lock is either full or filling with water.  The poles on the south lock are down in the "open" position.  Getting a loaded barge moving from a dead stop was hard on the animals, and sometimes a friendly lock operator would crack the paddle valve in the gate behind a boat going down and "swell", or give it a push with water out of the lock and on its way.   

The picture's date is unknown, but the locks are still those of the Enlarged Erie (ca 1862-1918). The barge in this lock was built with the Erie's famous low bridges in mind.  The next generation enlargement for the Barge Canal would include raising all of the bridges, as well as deepening and widening the canal itself.  Balance beams for opening gates (notice the ends that are painted red in this picture) would also then be replaced by powerful electric motors, allowing much heavier gates than these, and consequently the possibility of much higher rises per lock than in the Enlarged Erie (40' is the highest at Fort Hunter today vs 12' the highest at Lockport and elsewhere before).

This photograph is of exactly the same location as the picture above, but is taken from the opposite direction. Two mammoth new locks would replace the south half of Lockport's famous dual structure, but they alone would do the work of all ten of the old Flight of Five. The north series would be left in place with its mitre gates removed, and can be seen today serving as a spillway for the site (see below).  The retainer wall referred to in the fifth picture from the top above appears faintly just beyond and a bit to the left of the crane. 

    Lock #34 lifting a tour boat in 2005.                        The 1860's locks now acting as a spillway