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Chain boat and barges. Engraving from 1865 of a chain boat (bottom right) pulling barges along the river Elbe near Dresden, Germany. Chain boats used a chain positioned along the river bed and a steam engine to propel themselves. The chain passes over the front of the boat and runs down the centre to the steam engine in the middle of the boat. The steam engine powered a winch that pulled the boat along the chain. The chain then continued to the rear of the boat where it fell back into the river. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/BILDAGENTUR-ONLINE/TSCHANZ/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)