Monthly Archive: August 2014

2-8-0 steam locomotive

Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions #41

This post has been updated and can be found here: Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions #41. Random railway related posts… Camrose Heritage Railway Station & Park Wandering The Alberta Central Railway Museum. Locomotives of the Great Sandhills Railway. If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means...

17 foot Boler

Over the fence Boler

This Boler was found parked in a fenced-in compound in a gritty industrial area of Calgary, in June 2014. We’ve been seeing a lot of these 17 foot models lately, more then we would normally expect. You’ll notice we still use the old imperial system when referring to these trailers....

River of No Return location

River of No Return

If you’ve been following the BIGDoer blog, you have no doubt seen some of our trademark “then and now” posts. For these, we take an old photo, postcard or scene from a film and visit the location seen to document how things look today and then post it all here...

Bluffs Bow River

Horseshoe Canyon

This adventure we hike the lovely Bow River Valley, travelling east from the Seebe Dam (sometimes called the Kananaskis Hydro Dam or Kananaskis Plant) on our way to Horseshoe Dam and Canyon and to points beyond. It’s an easy trail, but don’t think that makes it uninteresting. It offers the...

Alliance AB grain elevator

Prairie Sentinels – Alliance Alberta

There were once many grain elevators in Alliance Alberta, now there is but one, a huge structure built in the 1950s. It sits alongside an active railway line and while we believe the building was in use up until recently, its current status is to us a bit of an...

St Joseph's Church Courval

St Joseph’s Church Courval SK

In this report we look at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in the tiny community of Courval Saskatchewan. Very photogenic, it is one of a handful of buildings still standing in what is essentially a ghost town, While needing a coat of paint and some other repairs, it’s otherwise in an...

Grain elevator Eastend

Prairie Sentinels – Eastend Saskatchewan

In May of this year we found ourselves in southwest Saskatchewan. We were on a grain elevator tour, travelling far and wide in search of these fascinating prairie sentinels. In the short five days we had, we explored dozens of these structures and to fanatics like us, each was as...

Triple E Surfside camper

Not a Boler – a Triple E Surfside

Beside the Boler company there are and were many, many other makes of small fiberglass camping trailers. You might recognize the name Trillium which is the most popular brand and in fact there are more of them then any other. We’ve seen hundreds. The Triple E Surfside seen in this...

Volcano Ridge Kananskis Country

Volcano Ridge

Today we hike up Volcano Ridge, a grass-topped hill located in the foothills of Kananaskis west of Turner Valley. In spite of its modest elevation, the views from the top are something amazing! One can see for many kilometres in all directions. Barren grey limestone peaks in the west are...

Haul truck and dragline

Bigfoot and Brutus (from afar)

In this article we’ll be looking at two monster draglines, Bigfoot and Brutus, at the Paintearth Coal Mine in central Alberta. The original plan to was to view them up close – boys, even 49 year old boys, love their big machines and I was eager to document these ones...

Beautiful Picklejar Lakes

Picklejar Lakes

There are four Picklejar Lakes, each of them lovely in their own unique way, all nestled in an amazingly picturesque valley. They are a popular destination for both hikers and anglers, and getting there is a relatively easy task. The trail up, for the most part has a moderate grade,...

Wrentham grain elevator

Ogilvie grain elevator Wrentham Alberta

The tiny community of Wrentham Alberta has two grain elevators, but for this report, we will for the most part focus on only one, the former Ogilvie Flour facility. A small but dedicated group, of which this author is now a member, is trying to rescue the endangered building. It’s...

CNR train bridge Calgary

Bridge Hunting – CNR Bow River

Built just over a century ago, the massive bridge seen in this report carries the CNR tracks over the Bow River in Calgary, just east of downtown. Unlike it’s nearby neighbour, the CPR Bonnybrook Bridge, this structure did not sustain damage during the disastrous spring floods of 2013. I guess...

K Line pop up trailer

Honourary Boler – K Line Mark

The holiday trailer seen in this report is known as K Line Mark (something) and will never be confused with a Boler. It in no way looks like one, yet at the same time it has many Boler-like qualities. It’s constructed of moulded fibreglass, it’s small in size and has...

Ridge Prairie Mountain

Prairie Mountain

This hike I visit Prairie Mountain solo. It’s a relatively modest sized bump, west of Calgary but still close to the city and it has pretty decent views from the summit. It’s a well used trail, so much so that I’ll only consider it as an objective at certain times...

Sam McGee grave

Sam McGee was not from Tennessee

The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service. From the 1907 book Songs of a Sourdough (US: The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses). This famous work is purely fictional, although some might say it’s loosely based on people, places and events Robert Service the poet (and then bank...

Brokeback Mountain locations

Brokeback Mountain then and now – paving scene

So here’s the challenge: take a scene from a movie and then track down the actual location where it was shot to document what things look like today. No biggie, that’s something we do all the time here at BIGDoer.com: In fact it’s in some ways one of our trademark...

Wanda AB school

Wanda one room school

This report we look at the Wanda one room school located in central Alberta. Despite its small stature, it was big enough to accommodate perhaps a dozen students give or take, it still served a very important purpose. Children in remote farming areas, much like their big city counterparts, needed...

Parked Boler

Parked Boler

This Boler was found completely by chance, as is often the case. We were driving about Calgary on some business when we caught a brief glimpse out of the corner of out eyes. Parked at a business only the top could be seen from the road, but that’s enough for...

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