In this report we’ll look at a strange Rube Goldberg-esque device, a jet powered railway snow blower, used to clear out compacted ice that has accumulated between the rails. Surprisingly that material can be quite hazardous and can even cause a train to leave the tracks. This odd piece of...
In this adventure we got “lost” under Mount Yamnuska. It’s our first wilderness hike of 2014 and we wander about aimlessly, as though adrift, going here and there, sometimes on trail, other times off. It looks at though we were lost but in the end we only loose ourselves in...
Boxcars: the rolling of two sixes in a dice game, specifically craps, or it could refer to an enclosed railway car used to carry general freight. When retired from service the latter are sometimes sold to be used as sheds and the like. Farmers are known for their thrift and...
What the heck is going on at the Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum in Beiseker Alberta? Their website is gone and the grounds appear as though abandoned. The old train station, what was to be the organization’s centrepiece, sits on blocks, as it has for a couple years now. In...
Presenting another Calgary Transit then and now – we hope you do not tire of them. Then: a trolley bus on the South Calgary (#7) route turns north onto 14th St from 33rd Ave SW. Now: do some quick research to find where the original photo was captured and then...
For this urban hike we’ll follow a series of pathways in the community of Okotoks, just south of Calgary. Our chosen route was roughly 8km long and encompassed a loop with a little out and back at the beginning and end. Always paralleling the Sheep River, the pathway is paved...
Today’s subject is the CPR train bridge found in Okotoks Alberta. Spanning the Sheep River, it carries that railway’s Calgary to Lethbridge line. Damaged in the spring of 2013 due to flooding and out of service for a time, the structure is back in use but almost a year later...
The Brokeback Mountain shot we’ll attempt to duplicate, which shows a motel exterior, appears only briefly in the movie. In spite of its short time on the screen, it’s an important and powerful few seconds which helps set the mood for the scenes that will follow. Let’s take a screen...
This year, in respects to Boler spotting, has started off slow. The trailer seen here, found in the Calgary community of Brentwood in April, is the seventh we’ve documented in 2014. Of course, once the warmer weather arrives, we’ll likely see a lot more of them as they and their...
The name of this post: “Calgary then and now – Stampede Parade”, is I guess, technically incorrect. While the first image shows that event, making it right in respects to that, the second does not, and it could not. You see, first we shot our “now” photo in the depths...
They’re done. They’re finished. They’re gone. RIP 2014: Calgary Transit Fishbowl buses – so long, and thanks for all the rides. Once the mainstay of the fleet, they have finally run out of time. After all that hard work, after all those millions of kilometres and millions of passengers, it’s...
The first photograph in this “then and now” report shows a circa 1992 railway scene captured in the small town of Irricana Alberta. We see a row of grain hoppers sitting on a side track not far from an elevator, perhaps waiting to be loaded there, or maybe having already...
The Trillium is the most common of the Boler-like trailers. We see them quite often and in fact they are more likely to be encountered than a Boler itself and while the later has not been made for decades, the Trillium is still in production to this day. Included in...
About a hundred years separate the two images seen in this report. Both show the old Shouldice Bridge (now the John Hextall Bridge) in the community of Bowness in western Calgary. In the first picture, a tram, with two proud crewmen posing for the camera, can be seen in front...
Join us for this urban hike where we circle the Glenmore Reservoir. It’s an approximately 16km loop, a path with many personalities. We’ll travel through dense wooded areas and pleasant green spaces. We’ll at times be on roads or beside roads (one very busy and noisy) and we’ll pass by...
For this railway themed “then and now” post we find ourselves in Cochrane Alberta, along side the CPR’s east/west mainline. The first image is from thirty years ago and shows an eastbound freight at the edge of town. We’ll return to that location to see what it all looks like...
This lily white Boler was seen peeking out behind some shrubs and a house and was found in the southwest Calgary community of Lakeview near north Glenmore Park. This one is the sixth we’ve spotted this year but with the coming of spring we are sure to see many more...
We present to you a photo, dated 1971, showing a street scene in Calgary Alberta. A trolley bus passes by and in behind we see various buildings, the most prominent one being the the Eaton’s Department Store. Fast Forward to today and we return to that same location to document...
At just over a century old, the Milnes Block in Claresholm Alberta appears to be in fine shape. In this then and now report we look at this handsome structure, first in 1911 and again how it appears today. As can be seen, it has changed little. For this building,...
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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