Bow City coal and Kitsim siding

Admittedly, this was one trip I did not prepare for as well as I could. Partially at least anyway and while the subjects shown in this report are Bow City’s later coal camp along with the train loading area of Kitsim, I did not do my research properly when it came to the former. My goal was to record all of Bow City’s coal mining history, but in the end I only documented the more recent operation, across the river in Eyremore. I had, as it tuned out, missed a number of important details and overlooked a lot. Bad perhaps, but understandable given how little information can be found on this place. Now I have reason to return too.

Bow City Alberta, once touted as the Pittsburgh of the North (or Canada) is located on the open prairie by the Bow River southwest of Brooks. Promoted far and wide as the “City of Natural Resources”, it never really amounted to much. The whole time however, coal mining was taking place here, and it was this thing that kept it on the map.

In the early days, coal was mined along the banks of the Bow River on the south side. Adits were driven into river-exposed seams and for the first few decades these underground workings provided all the output needed. Later, shallow coal beds were mined directly opposite the original town site across the Bow River, using open pit methods.

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Strip mining was started there on a limited scale in the 1930s but it was not until World War Two before this method was employed full time. With the opening of the new pits, the old underground workings were closed.

Overburden was removed by a Marion drag line (a model 111m), exposing the coal seams underneath. The material was loaded directly into highway trucks and then transported to the tipple along the CPR Cassils Subdivision branch line at Kitsim some ten kilometres away. There we always plans in place to bring the rails closer, but in the end it never happened.

On to Kitsum and for this report we’ll concentrate only on the modern tipple there. Coal had always been loaded on to rail cars here, since mining started, initially employing a simple ramp system with lots of hand shovelling involved. With demand brought on by World War Two, a more elaborate tipple was erected. This allowed more efficient sorting of coal sizes (egg, nut, pea, etc), a job that was formerly done at the the tipple at underground workings, along with faster loading of rail cars.

While the main structure dated from around 1943, according to data found, this author found a block dated 1948, hinting that additions may have been added over time.

Typical of the era, the concrete crews here used what ever gravels they could source close by as filler material for the cement mixture, with broken off chunks showing that. They used rounded river gravels, which is not the choicest materiel, but it’ll work I guess. They also used, as what seemed to be the practice of the time, old rails and bit of metal a make-shift reinforcing rebar. Again, not pretty but it works.

At its peak, in the late 1940s, over a dozen trucks were in employed by the mine, often running full bore 24hrs a day, moving coal from the pits to the tipple. On some days over 3000 tons were shipped out – that translates into roughly 60 cars, with each holding about 50 tons. It’s nor clear where the coal went, and we only know it was used as domestic fuel (cooking and heating). I am sure it was sold far and wide, where ever demand dictated.

The name the mining company was Kleenbirn Collieries, a division of Birnwel Coal. Love those spellings! The company sign on the dragline lists the mine as being in Eyremore which is technically correct. Bow City was on the opposite, south bank.

A tipple fire in 1950 was disastrous and while the structure was eventually rebuilt, business was lost during that down time. This, plus the fact that coal was falling out of favour as a domestic fuel, meant that each year less and less of it was mined. By 1958 the tipple was abandoned and dismantled, I guess the markets having dried up by then.

Today only some coal slack, metal bits and concrete blocks hint at what was here. It’d be easy to miss them in fact and even the rail line is hard to follow, nature taking over the whole site. One is instantly taken in by the loneliness of the place – it’s in the proverbial middle of nowhere and there are no signs of civilization in most directions – I love that feeling actually. In spite how little there is to discover I still enjoyed exploring the field for evidence of the tipple and I could easily imagine a line of boxcars being loaded right in front of me.

Rules of exploration: show respect, don’t trespass and take only pictures.

This section of rail line, by the way, can be seen in the 1970s CBC series, The National Dream. This area was chosen not only for it’s remoteness, but because by that time traffic was light on the line, making filming easier.

By the 1970s, the coal traffic was long gone and the only commodity moving along the line was grain, at two points, Rainier and Scandia. That was not enough to sustain it and it closed in the late 1970s (I was told variously 1977 or 1979). By that time, there may have been only a couple trains per month, depending on demand. Afterwards the rails were pulled up and many sections of the line obliterated by farming. Today, it’s hard to trace in spots.

Back to Bow City (again, Eyremore actually), we examine what we think is a foundation related to the mine. In an aerial picture dated 1950, some angled buildings are seen at the junction of the highway and the road to the coal mine. Our foundation matches the size and angle of one of them and inside, bits of junk can be seen hinting at mining activity. Included in that are some small mine rails, which I assume were salvaged from the old underground workings for what ever reason. Close by is an old building, complete but rather dilapidated, but I don’t think it’s associated with the mining operation.

To the east of the highway was the 1940s/50s era coal camp and this was one part I overlooked exploring. Instead we headed to the pits, but overall there was not much to see. They are shallow and many filled with water. Only some random slack even hints that this was a coal mine. I’d like to walk the area – next time. The seams here sure were shallow, making mining easy (and cheap).

With the closing of the tipple, I understand mining still took place on a limited scale, for local use. This ended sometime in the 1960s. It’s not clear what happened to the dragline and other equipment when the mine closed, but it can be assumed they were sold off and moved out of the area.

To see a more recent report on the Bow City, go here…
Bow City townsite – with Forgottenalberta.com

To see some other coal mining themed reports we’ve done, click any of the links below…
Commander Mine Nacmine.
Loading coal in Coleman.
Tent Mountain was torn a new one.

If you wish more information on these places, by all means contact us!

Date: April 2013.
Location: Bow City and Kitsim, AB.

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Bow City Alberta

The last Bow City coal operation was actually across the river in Eyremore.

Bow City (Eyremore) foundation

Old mine rails can be seen amongst the junk here.

Eyremore AB building

This old building sits nearby.

Bow City (Eyremore) coal mine

Some of the old mine pits have filled with water.

Bow City area coal mining

The coal beds around here are fairly shallow, making things easy for the mine.

Bow City (Eyremore) pit mine

Some coal slack is further evidence of what took place here.

Bow River coal

Across the Bow River, a coal seam can be seen.

Kitsim siding

Kitrsim commemorative stone at the Scandia Museum.

Kitsim siding rail line

It’s hard to see but this was the roadbed of the CPR’s Cassil’s Subdivision.

Kitsim AB coal

Some coal slack can be found at the old tipple site.

Kitsim Alberta coal tipple

And some concrete and metal bits and pieces can be seen as well.

Kitsim Alberta tipple

The date 1948 was scratched into one block.

Kleenbirn Collieries

This tipple belonged to Kleenbirn Collieries, a division of Birnwel Coal.

Kleenbirn Collieries tipple

These blocks supported the tipple legs and trains tracks ran between each pair.

Kitsim tipple foundation

This was the biggest piece found in Kitsim.

Coal tipple remains

Old channels and rails are used as make-shift rebar to reinforce the concrete.

CPR Cassils branchline

A single cross tie found on the old right of way.

Kleenbirn Kitsim tipple

Difficult to imagine, but the tipple would have stood just back from here.

8 responses

  1. Neat! I’d like to go to Kitsim and do some “then and now” shots with the Hooper slides with the filming of the National Dream. Drove through the area this August, was interesting. Stopped at a few places along the highway and a person could make out where the coal mines were located.

  2. Pat Wirove Wiebe says:

    I wondered if anyone would ever mention Bow City. My dad worked at the mine. We lived there for about 4 years in the late 1940s. We went there about 10 or more years later. Dad showed us kids the house we had lived in, which was already falling apart along with the rest of the homes.

  3. Tim Swaren says:

    I never ever heard of any mines existing down there either! very interesting. You wouldn’t happen to know what type of Marion dragline they used down there, would you? I know the area is very rich in coal and up to just a few years ago, there was a company discussing a plan to open a large-scale strip mine near Brooks. They were going to build a coal-fired generating station and the idea was to sell power to the Alberta grid and export some to the U.S. as well. Nothing ever became of their plans.

    • ChrisBigDoer says:

      Until I started studying the Bow City area in general, I too was unaware of any coal mines in that part of the province. It was a rather obscure operation, hidden down some back road, so I guess it’s not at all surprising it’s not that well know. Coal mining was easy here and the seams are quite close to the surface. The Marion was an 111m, a rather small dragline when compared to those at most strip coal mines. You can see it in a book called “Settlers Along The Bow : A History of Rainier, Bow City”. On researching the area, I came across some articles on that proposed mine your mentioned.

  4. Coal Man says:

    I was surprised to hear that coal was mined in that area of Alberta on a commercial scale. I knew of small mines, the output being used by local farmers and ranchers, but nothing like what you reported on. You learn something every day.

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