The subject of this report is the massive CPR Bassano train station, moved from its namesake town to Beiseker for eventual display at the Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum. It currently sits, boarded up and in rough shape, not far from the foundation which it is to eventually to be...
The tracks are still in place, but it’s been a good number of years since a train passed over the CNR Midland bridge that spans the Red Deer River near Drumheller Alberta. An imposing structure, many large concrete blocks can be seen in its deck, leftovers from the spring 2013...
What an awful sky. It’s just so grey and hazy and the colours are so flat. It’s not a great day for photography. It is however, a great day to explore – every day is – and on this urban adventure, we take in the west trail in Edworthy Park....
Here’s Boler #47 for the year – this one was posted out of order and we have already found #48 and #49. It’s the larger 17′ models and was found on the prairies near the picturesque town of Big Valley Alberta, in September 2013. Spotted by chance, as it often...
The charming town of Big Valley is like Disneyland for the history buff. There are so many things to explore including a traditional wooden grain elevator, a picturesque Canadian Northern railway station, lots of old and interesting buildings, including the lovely (and blue) St. Edmund’s church on a hill overlooking...
Located up the Sheep River Valley, Windy Point Ridge is a modest sized mound in an area of Kananaskis comprised of low rolling hills and ridges – the big mountains are still a good way off. Surprisingly rugged near the top, with drop-offs, cliffs and loose scree, it’s a short...
The High Noon Hills hiking trail is short, easy and quite pleasant. The trail follows a low undulating ridge through lovely meadows and forests, to a nice viewpoint on a grassy bluff overlooking the Long Prairie Creek valley. Located not far from the Kananaskis Country boundary, it’s one the first...
While travelling about we’ll often discover old and interesting vehicles hidden away in fields, back lots and industrial properties. We rarely search them out and stumble across most by accident. Often we’ll be heading to a neat historical site, or a scenic hiking trail, and in the process come away...
The CPR’s famous Spiral Tunnels were an important and costly project that allowed the railway to finally abandon its troublesome Big Hill. The latter was a steep and dangerous stretch of track and was a major bottleneck. The new bypass helped alleviate, but not totally solve, the congestion issues the...
The picturesque village of Big Valley Alberta is rich in history – railway history in particular. There is a beautifully restored train station, remains of a once busy railway divisional point with roundhouse, and the subject of this report, an iconic wooden grain elevator that for decades loaded rail cars....
This post has been updated and can be found here: CPR Water Tower Cranbrook BC. In our travels we’ve come across a few octagonal water tank foundations… Bridge hunting – Bullpound Alberta. Yahk then and now. If you’d like to know more about what you’ve seen here, by all means...
Located in a gorgeous setting on the shores of Moyie Lake, the town of Moyie BC was once famous for the huge St. Eugene Mine, the remains of which can still be seen today. Gone is the hustle and bustle of days past and all that’s left is a sleepy...
What a great day to explore the restored ghost town of Rowley Alberta. We are blessed with glorious blue skies with wispy white clouds, beautiful fall foliage and lovely browns, tans, greys and whites of the various buildings in town. It’s a wonderful autumn day and we have all of...
We spotted not one but two Boler trailers in the quaint mountain village of Field BC. Just blocks apart (the town is only a few blocks square), both are the less common and less cute (IMO) 17 foot models. While you’ll often see the original 13 foot Boler in a...
The remains of the Kootenay King Mine concentrator, cement walls and machinery support pads, a large wooden ore bin, and other bits are still visible a few kilometres up the Wildhorse River road. In production for only a brief time in the early 1950s, there many things to explore, surprising...
Small, egg-shaped and of course, cute as a button, one has to see the Scamp logo on this lightweight fibreglass trailer to confirm in fact that it’s not a Boler. Of all the Boler look-a-likes we’ve seen, this one stands out as the most similar in appearance – it’s like...
An editorial… If you are regular reader of this blog, you know we like to explore and study history. That’s our hobby. For this report, we enter a different realm and to pay the bills, we do historical research, for companies and societies and the like (plus Chris repairs vintage...
The hike up to Grotto Canyon is quite an easy trek, a stroll almost, yet there are rewarding views along the way. Travel is through a deep winding gorge before one emerges into a rocky valley surrounded by tall peaks. The creek bed is your trail much of the way...
Located in High River Alberta, almost downtown in fact, the old CPR railway bridge across the Highwood River has not seen a train in years. In spite of that the tracks are still in place, as though waiting for one to pass. This massive structure has stood fast for what...
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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