Connie was scheduled to have a battery of routine tests done at the new South Heath Campus in southeast Calgary (it’s a massive building). Some of the procedures required her to take some medication which could impair her ability to drive, so of course I volunteered to be her taxi....
Located deep in a river valley in a remote part of the province, Finnegan Alberta is nothing more than a little point on the map and that’s likely all it has ever been. A siding on CPR branch line (long gone), there is not much to see here, nor was...
We were quite lucky to capture this trailer. It passed by on the highway and with only seconds to spare we were able to turn on the camera, spin around quickly to line up the shot, and get a single frame off. This brown bottom Boler was seen in the...
Here’s another in our series of Brokeback Mountain then and now reports, and in this set we see Jack and Ennis heading to a bar – a common theme throughout the movie and as the pair travel about, they visit any and every watering hole they can find. Played out...
The great floods of June 2013 will go down in history as some of the worst seen in this area. Heavy rains and snow melt in the mountains caused torrents of water to race downstream and nearly every community in Southern Alberta near a water course was effected. Like many...
Located deep in a remote valley in southeastern British Columbia, Corbin is home to a few residents, some summer cabins and one giant coal mine – you can’t miss the latter. Very near the Alberta border, the town was once tied to that mine which has operated on and off...
It’s been a while since we posted any phones here, so I though it time to show some. I’ve been keeping busy fixing them all this time, just for some reason I did not document it. This report covers two rotary phones brought in by the same customer Both these...
Sharing the field with a horse and another trailer, this little Trillium was spotted in the ghost town of Raley Alberta. What’s significant is that in the same frame is oldest grain elevator in all of Alberta , which we came to explore. The horse was kind enough to pose...
This adventure combines two favourite activities, hiking and exploring abandoned places. A short and pleasant trail meanders between the Crowsnest River and the CPR rail line taking us through woods and meadows, to the base of the historic Hillcrest-Mohawk (sometimes spelled Mowhawk) surface plant. While only a few kilometres round...
As is often the case we discover many Bolers completely by chance. We’ll be driving somewhere and out of the corner of our eyes we’ll see one, perhaps tucked away in an alley or in a back yard. And this is exactly what happened here and while driving around Coleman...
In the 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain, Cowley Alberta doubles for the fictional town of Signal Wyoming. It’s not surprising the producers selected the community and it does a fine job convincing us its a 1960s era small prairie town in Middle America. Many scenes were filmed there and for this...
We’ve been hoping to do this Superman then and now series for some time. In fact, we visited the site once before earlier this year but difficult conditions, driving rain, made the shoot a real challenge and the results were less then ideal. Retuning in June of 2013, things were...
Those who read this blog know we spend a lot of time in the Crowsnest Pass region of Alberta. We finds so much to do there – there are trails to hike, mountains and ridges to summit and lots of historical sites to explore. Plus, as it turns out, a...
The berm we see here, cutting across a farmer’s field, is in fact the grade of a proposed rail line, unfinished and abandoned before completion. Passing by it seems of little significance, but over one hundred years ago when it was built, there were great plans afoot to open up...
Deep in the south west corner of Alberta is the former town of Raley, home to the province’s oldest grain elevator. Built in 1905, this old timer sits along an abandoned rail line. Looking rough and neglected, I doubt many passers by (what few that do pass by) realize the...
Some would argue that Pacific should hold the title as the toughest all around truck ever produced. All business and with few frills they could be found hauling logs, transporting oilfield equipment, working on construction sites or in mines. The one seen here was an example of the latter, a...
For this trip we’ll tackle a nice ridge directly north of the town of Bellevue Alberta in the Crowsnest Pass. It has no official name that we can find, but some parts of it are along the documented Two Mine Trail loop and since we’ll pass one of the mines...
A short cut through an alley turns up a pleasant surprise, a nice Boler trailer seen in someone’s back yard. A menacing storm can be seen approaching from behind and soon it’d be raining – hard! This one was seen in June 2013, in Coleman Alberta in the historic Crowsnest...
Most owners choose to store their Bolers on their own property. These trailers are small and fit nearly anywhere and so you’ll see them in back yards, in alleys and on driveways. For those who don’t have the space, keeping them at a commercial storage lot is sometimes the only...
Abandoned in the 1950s, many old and decrepit coal cars can be seen scattered about the forgotten Commander Mine site (earlier the Stirling Mine) near Nacmine Alberta. Exposed to the elements, rot and rust are slowly taking over. Tossed aside when the mine closed, they fittingly sit atop the old...
Our goal this day is a modest lump of dirt called Eagle Hill situated in the Sibbald area of Kananaskis just south of the Trans Canada highway and bordering on the Stoney (Nakoda) First Nations Reserve. Coming into season early, you can often find us on this trail in the...
This post has been updated and can be found here: Dunshalt Alberta 1974 and 2013. More Then & Nows… 27 Years Apart with Alberta Prairie Ry #41. Grain Elevators at Carbon Alberta. Superman 1978 Then & Now: Below the Dam. If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here,...
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.
Javascript is required for this site to function. Please enable it in your browser settings and refresh this page.
Please log-in to continue... This allows unrestricted access to every post @BIGDoer.com, popups are eliminated, commenting is on and the "contact us" page is enabled.
Your social site may send you a routine notice of login.
Or signup, here: Subscriber Register ___ BIGDoer.com: Serving up POP HISTORY & other McFun!…(Mmmm, yummy bite-sized pieces.) One million plus words & tens of thousands of photos!
Comments are currently turned off