Fifty years separate the two images used in this then and now. Our subject will be the Canadian Pacific Railway and the location, a spot by the Elbow River, in the community of Inglewood, just east of downtown Calgary. We’ve been supplied an old image showing a passing train and our goal is shoot a photo similarly composed, same angle and all and then compare the two. We love how these demonstrate just how closely linked time and change are.
The “then” image comes via our friends at the Galt Railway History Park (Great Canadian Plains Railways Society) in Stirling Alberta and is their copyright used with permission. It’s from the Ken Hooper collection of railway images which that group oversees (it’s extensive and no doubt will spawn more posts like this). Have an old street/building/transit/train scene photo you want included in a BIGDoer.com then and now? Send it our way!
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Scroll down for photos and to comment ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
The old image is dated October 1965 and shows a passenger run heading towards the camera position. Data accompanying the photo mentions it’s heading southbound (temporarily eastbound here) on the railway’s MacLeod Subdivision. That’s in error, but only by a small margin. At this point the train is a few hundred metres west of the junction with that line. At this position it’s on the CPR’s east/west mainline, here, the Brooks Subdivision. The MacLeod line is branch off it.
The train has just left the CPR’s downtown Calgary station, off frame and to the left. The final destination is the city of Lethbridge, either via the entire MacLeod Subdivision or the more easterly Aldersyde Subdivision (the train alternated between them). This run would take several hours to complete.
Instead of a traditional locomotive hauled consist, the train is comprised of two self propelled RDC (Rail Diesel Cars). These came on the scene in the 1950s and were generally used on the lesser patronized and/or shorter runs. The lead unit, as can be seen, has a small baggage compartment in the front so it’s an RDC-2. The other is all coach, so it’s an RDC-1. There were also other configurations. These came from the Budd company in the US, although a number were also assembled in Canada by Canadian Car and Foundry (or Can-Car). Both major Canadian railways operated them. The CPR called them “Dayliners”. Another RDC run out of Calgary was to Edmonton.
The drive train was located sub-floor with the prominent hump on the roof housing the radiators (I assume a leak there would be disastrous). These cars are made of stainless steel which makes them quite durable. A few are still in use today.
The Calgary to Lethbridge service was cancelled in the early 1970s. The last true passenger run of any kind to serve Calgary (discounting expensive “tour” trains), under the auspices of Via Rail, who took over CPR’s passenger business in the late 1970s, was in 1990.
On our visit we catch a slow moving sulphur train, which stirred up the pigeons. Since it’s eastbound, it’s empty (read on). Pulled by a trio of GE locomotives (all model ES44ACs built in the mid to late-2000s), two in the lead and a third DPU, aka Distributed Power Unit, bringing up the rear. That last unit, #8862, was once painted up in celebration of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The sulphur comes from various gas plants in Alberta, as a by-product, and is transported to the west coast for export. A low value product, these trains are at best spotty and run only when the commodity price is favourable. Cars in this dedicated “unit” train are aluminum hoppers that get rotary dumped at the destination – so flipped upside down without being detached form the train.
A lot has changed in the fifty years between shots. The skyline, my oh my, how that differs – in 1965 the city had a population of some 300 000, today, it’s over a million! As a result, downtown keeps growing to the right. The railway bridge is different (BTW, the old one makes a brief appearance in the 1970s film Silver Streak). One line pole, right of centre remains, hard to see, and helped us line up our shot. The 9th Avenue road bridge in back right connects both photos. Some of the trees blocking the view to it are the same, as seen by their position, but are perhaps a bit bigger. One is certainly leaning more.
The fence got in the way in our shot, but we have to duplicate the position as best we can, so have to live with it. Side note: in the old photo notice the white car to the right, complete with massive tail fins.
One thing that bugs us doing these then and nows, a technical problem, is how different the photos look when compared one way over another. Notice how the tracks in the stacked photo seems to trail off at diverging angles (we call it the fall-away problem) yet when placed side by side, they seem to match up pretty well. Optical illusion! I have no idea why this happens. Still, the one atop the other version is visually a better arrangement, even with that issue.
Our now photos are composed in camera. We line-em up, take a shot or a few and hope like hell it or they end up looking like the original. That’s how it’s done and it’s more challenging than it appears. We could of course do it all in post production I guess. But no. We’d rather have them imperfect, and doing it this way, we’ll never totally ace it, than to fake the results.
If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!
Date: December, 2015. Location: Calgary, AB. Article references: Canadian Trackside Guides, Galt Railway Historic Park/Great Canadian Plains Railway Society, CPR records @ Exporail Quebec. Our photos were shot from public property.
In behind the RDC (current site of Fort Calgary) was a Macosham (sp?) warehouse. It was served by rail, but I don’t remember how it got in there. Across 9 Ave or along the river berm behind Inglewood (I think).
The Canadian National had a spur line into what is present day Fort Calgary, back populated by warehouses, into the late 1960s perhaps even a bit longer. It paralleled the Bow and today is that walking path. There was a bridge right where the Elbow and Bow joined up.
My buddy is a conductor and took me along on his hot shot into Cowtown. I got to sit in the engineers seat of the second locomotive ( “just don’t touch nothing!” ) all the way in to Alyth yard. When we crossed Glenmore trail I slid the window open and hung my arm out, thinking someone I know might see me, but nobody did. It was a very cool ride. I may not have been a huge railway fan before that night, but I was after.
no problem. I grew up not far from Rosetown, my dad owned a farm equipment dealership. So I got to travel with him to all the major centers to pick up equipment and parts, and then deliveries all over the 3 western provinces. Then I began trucking when I was 21, so I know the provinces pretty well. I have really been enjoying your site, I have memories of a lot of your visited spots. Hey! You know Chris Attrell! thanks for documenting what you are.
That all sounds so interesting. Glad you like our little corner of the Internet too, we try hard, and of course we have a ton of fun doing it and sharing it with others. Yes, I know Chris. Now that guy is a photographer. I dream of being half as good.
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!
In behind the RDC (current site of Fort Calgary) was a Macosham (sp?) warehouse. It was served by rail, but I don’t remember how it got in there. Across 9 Ave or along the river berm behind Inglewood (I think).
The Canadian National had a spur line into what is present day Fort Calgary, back populated by warehouses, into the late 1960s perhaps even a bit longer. It paralleled the Bow and today is that walking path. There was a bridge right where the Elbow and Bow joined up.
My buddy is a conductor and took me along on his hot shot into Cowtown. I got to sit in the engineers seat of the second locomotive ( “just don’t touch nothing!” ) all the way in to Alyth yard. When we crossed Glenmore trail I slid the window open and hung my arm out, thinking someone I know might see me, but nobody did. It was a very cool ride. I may not have been a huge railway fan before that night, but I was after.
Now that’s a memory!! Thanks for commenting.
no problem. I grew up not far from Rosetown, my dad owned a farm equipment dealership. So I got to travel with him to all the major centers to pick up equipment and parts, and then deliveries all over the 3 western provinces. Then I began trucking when I was 21, so I know the provinces pretty well. I have really been enjoying your site, I have memories of a lot of your visited spots.
Hey! You know Chris Attrell!
thanks for documenting what you are.
That all sounds so interesting. Glad you like our little corner of the Internet too, we try hard, and of course we have a ton of fun doing it and sharing it with others. Yes, I know Chris. Now that guy is a photographer. I dream of being half as good.
As a kid, I loved riding on the dayliner.
I recall heading to Edmonton on one (1970s).
Cool pic of the RDC!
I know, so nice!