Back in the fall of 1997 we were passing through the area and so paid a brief visit to Nordegg Alberta with intentions to explore the old CNR rail line located nearby. Fast forward a few years to 2001 and we are in the area again and have a bit...
Nacmine is a former coal town in the bad lands of Alberta, only a few kilometres west of Drumheller. At one time there were many mines here and in fact the town was even named after one of them (North American Collieries Mine), but the subject of this report however...
The tiniest Boler yet! You’ve heard these trailers were cramped but this one takes that to the extreme and in fact is the smallest one we’ve seen. A rare sub-sub-sub-compact model, we caught this one pulling into a gas station. Actually…it was seen at a local train show in September...
If you’d like to experiment with time lapse photography but don’t want to invest a lot of money into it you might want to consider the home-brew rig described here. It’s proven, simple, dirt cheap and produces pretty respectable results. The parts needed can be purchased cheaply online, in a...
This post has been retired and a new version can be found here: Coleman Miners’ Hospital 100 Years Apart. They’re saying… “OTBPwC&C is a brilliant concept. Thank you for enriching our lives with so many engaging and entertaining posts. Five stars all the way.” Erin Bay. Random awesomeness… The Sidewalks...
Canadian National Railway #1158 is a fairly workaday engine most at home on branchlines or in local service None the less she and her many sisters played a very important role and they could be seen up and down the entire CNR system working hard every day, doing the mundane...
At one time nearly every medium to large sized town had a rail yard and often located nearby or within it was a turntable and roundhouse. These were needed to turn steam engines around and as a place where they could be inspected, maintained or stored. Nowadays few of these...
This post has been revised with new info and pictures, here: A Few Minutes in Stavely Alberta. The old pictures here have been retained for your enjoyment, but please refer to the new post for all esle. Grain elevator time… Prairie Sentinels: Bulwark Alberta. Grain Elevators of DeWinton. Providence Grain...
Before anything: I really enjoy old trucks but I am by no means an expert or even remotely good at identifying them. With that said, even though I got some help from those in the know I am certain I’ve made some mistakes in this post. If you see where...
They’re loading coal trains in Coleman! Hurray, hurray, coal mining has returned to The Pass and prosperity will soon follow! They are so eager to get going that cars are already being lined up at the old Coleman Collieries plant and it won’t be long before they’re filled and headed...
“Connie…is that a Studebaker?”, asking like I expected her to know. “Damn, I think it is and it’s a later one too…a 1964 or 1965 maybe.” “I’ve got to get a picture of this.” So here are and without even trying we come across a seldom seen car. Not a...
I guess you could say this was a weird choice for a hike, trekking along the rail line from south Calgary into Okotoks. Yea it’s odd, but we’re strange anyway. Not a terribly challenging undertaking, even given the long distances, it was less than pleasant in places given the hot...
For this trip we set the time machine back to 1998 and we find ourselves exploring the barren and dry prairies in the eastern part of the province. For this report we’ll make a brief stop in Empress Alberta, a tiny little hamlet right on the Alberta – Saskatchewan border...
This post has been retired but a similar post can be found here: Polish Hall Coleman Alberta (1927). They’re saying… “Thank you for all the engaging write ups and pictures…you two are a national treasure!” Bonnie & Gerald McDonald. Check out these… Marblehead Underground Quarry. Downtown Bassano. Rocky Mountain House...
It’s old, cold and gold! No lightweight, this massive mellow yellow coloured Marshall road roller is a long way from its birthplace in the UK and can be found in a small town on the Alberta prairies. Seen on a cold winter’s day, it sure makes one wonder how it...
While a sign proudly proclaims it to be The Biggest Piggy Bank in the World, instead it’s actually a small underground mining locomotive. Looking much like a miniature steam engine, this “dinky” operates under the same principles, except it actually runs on compressed air instead of steam. This makes it...
Okay, here’s an odd choice for a hiking trail – let’s follow access roads that parallel the CPR”s rail line along Bow River, travelling from the Bearspaw Dam on the west edge of Calgary all the way to Cochrane. Sounds like a interesting idea and in spite of being close...
Known as a “Buffalo 2000” the elevator seen here in Lyalta Alberta was an innovative and advanced design for its time and was to help usher in a new and exciting era in the Canadian grain handling industry. It was the future! However, in spite of such lofty aspirations, in...
The locomotive seen here, CPR 9005, is known as a “Red Barn” and while to the uninitiated it looks like any other engine out there, it’s unique and fascinating in a number of ways. It’s rare in that it was made with non-standard body style (called a cowl), and it...
The notorious American Hotel doesn’t look so menacing today. Vacant, sombre and forgotten, in the not too distant past it was ground zero, a place for trouble, BIG TROUBLE, and not a weekend went by without seeing it in the news. Fact is you would not want to be standing...
In this then and now series we take a look at the Greenhill Hotel, a prominent Blairmore landmark for over ninety years. In the early days this distinctive barn shaped structure was a watering hole for coal miners, locals and visitors and it today it serves in much that same...
Almost forty years separate the two images seen here and while the mountains in the back help line up the pictures, otherwise one would be hard pressed to know this is the same location. Seen in Cowley Alberta, the elevators, the train station, the oil shed are all gone and...
Once again I line up the shot pretty good but mess up on some angles a wee bit. However, it’s pretty close and given the conditions at the time of my photograph it was amazing I could get it at all. Let me elaborate – try to shoot one handed,...
We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" 🤪 and miss those days. It was so much silly fun and often frustrating as heck. In these we'd invite people to send in random photos of obscure locations, but not give any information, and then we'd track where it was and shoot something similar.
Most of these came from old family collections, as was the case here. Anyone up to resurrecting the series?
In hindsight, why didn't we pose someone in our shot?
Pointless: “Devoid of meaning (or) senseless” Merriam-Webster.
If you like what we do and want to support this ongoing project (12 years now), go here: https://www.BIGDoer.com/help-the-society/ Thanks to Connie for making this post possible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: ca1970 and 2014. Posted by Connie.
Captured on a cold, cold day many years ago. We've been passing this old house for decades and it's little changed in that time. At some point we expect to drive by and it'll be gone.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
When retired old railway cars usually get cut up for scrap. Sometimes, however, they find their way into the hands of the general public or whomever. Flat cars make good bridges, and boxcars can be transformed into storage buildings and the like. Case in point here. We see them used like this often enough and in this case, it's part of a corral.
Incidentally, this boxcar dates from 1950 and this was found by tracing the old road number, which is still visible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
This central Alberta racetrack was never a commercial operation but instead just a fun place for car enthusiasts in the area to get together. Early '70s or thereabouts and it only lasted a few years. Even thought it's been abandoned for that long, there is no doubt what was here.
You know we like the the obscure stuff and this one fits the bill perfectly. Found by accident while backroad cruising and the history comes thanks to local car guy Mike.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
On top of little Myrtle Mountain in the Kimberley (BC) Nature Park.
There's some good wilderness fun to be had here and nice views as you can see, but the real reason we came is mining history. The whole area near the ski hill was extensively worked over a century ago and we were looking for evidence of this. We didn't find much in the area searched, but it's a big chunk of property and we hope to return to cover more ground again soon. Of all the subjects we cover, mining related is a favourite.
Still, it was a good hike and that can't be bad. Look to the comments for more info 👇.
Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
It's a strange curiosity in south Kananaskis, there on a hillside and we have no idea who created it. We asked around and no one's completely sure about its history. In the past it showed the Canada 100 logo from 1967 but in 2017 someone changed it to reflect the country's 150th.
That's our friend Emily from DanOCan.com having a look.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
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