GTC 2017

The past four or five years now a group of friends get together and explore. This merry band whose domain is dusty backroads, spend some summer weekend in some corner of Alberta (sometimes venturing into Saskatchewan too) in search of abandoned and forgotten stuff. Lots of cool things are seen and photographed but for us and others I bet, it’s as much about the the social aspects and comradery as it anything else. The fun and sheer enjoyment of it all is the cake, old farms and empty towns, the icing.

This the Ghost Town Convention (GTC, from here in, ’cause we’re lazy) and here for your enjoyment are some photos from the 2017 outing. No real attempt has been made to touch on the history of things seen – it’s pretty much all about the photos here – although some subjects we may come back to and document further. Stay tuned as they say.

Before we get too far, a huge thank you goes out person behind it all, Jason Sailer, who does an amazing job putting together the event. Locations are pre-scouted (each year it’s in a different area) and a schedule made, both tasks a great deal of work. There is and has been other Ghost Town Conventions across the prairies, organized by others. The Saskatchewan one was the original we believe.

Let’s get on with it…

1) We’re in “Dino Country”, the Brooks and Drumheller area, and this is the very first photo of the convention. The cow seems thoroughly unimpressed.

1) The first photo from the 2017 GTC.

2) Jurassic Gas! And ready to take a bite. At a closed gas station/store at some crossroad, last open a few years back.

3) Fill’er up! Them’s some older pumps. The station was the only one around for quite a distance and catered to visitors to nearby Dinosaur Provincial Park, who passed by it on the highway here, in addition to locals. Guess that wasn’t enough to keep it going.

4) Less and less of them each year, this strange thing called a pay phone. It’s a dinosaur in it own right. What’s Superman to do once they’re all gone? No dial tone here!

5) An old trailer and car left behind when they moved out. Once lived in, once driven, and now not. How things change, how people move on, how dreams can flame out.

6) Mostly tame! Well that’s good.

7) We stop for trucks. It’s a thing – we’re crazy. Here’s a late 1980s (we think – correct us if wrong) Kenworth K100 series, with a gigantic sleeper that’s got more square footage than BIGDoer HQ.

8) Old cans of this and that found in a small town museum. These places are a treasure and sadly are don’t get a lot of visits. This one is only open on request. At the Rainy Hills Pioneer Exhibit in tiny Iddesleigh Alberta, population this many (holding up one hand).

9) Visiting on Canada’s 150th Birthday, mementos from the party fifty years earlier on display there. Now that’s one interesting coincidence. Seen, Canada Centennial Flags from 1967. Your author was two then – if it matters.

10) On display, a vintage McCormick-Deering tractor. The company, dating back to the 1920s, was part of the huge International Harvester firm. This tractor is a 1940s model. Later ones carried the McCormick name only, or later were simply labelled as Internationals.

11) Pressed tin ceiling tiles in a grain elevator office on the museum grounds. Much better than the 1970s/1980s era “popcorn” treatment I see when I look up.

12) A tractor from Massey-Harris. This firm back in the day was one of the largest makers on the planet. Later they took the name Massey-Ferguson. This one’s been put out to pasture, the work all done. Enjoy retirement.

13) The cutest tiniest little barn ever. Hands down. Along a highway in the “Special Areas”. If there was a farm house here, it’s gone.

14) A remote farm house, down some dusty old road. It’s a good size …heck a mansion for its day. This place will be getting a revisit even if it kills us. It’s stunning! Got to see it up close and later dig up some history. It’s worthy. It’s worthy!

15) A one room school – there used to be thousands of them out here on the plains. Most are torn down although now and then you can find one standing. They all look similar – the long rows of windows being a sure fire spotting feature.

2) Jurassic Gas!

16) Stubby beer bottle! Every time I see one, I think of the old man. He kept the stockholders of many breweries happy – the CEO of Carling-Okeefe would send him thank you cards and Christmas greetings and Uncle Ben invited him to parties. I swear. These bottles, every one the same, were used by all brands and breweries in Canada from the 1960s-1980s, when they were phased out for the current long-neck designs. Some companies have started bottling stubbies again, for nostalgia reasons I’d guess.

17) A view out some window, nothing more.

18) A different school, this one with two classrooms. Later, I understand, it was converted to a house. Today it sits on land scheduled to a be mined. There’s coal under the town of Sheerness Alberta, where it’s located. We understand the building is likely to be demolished.

3) In “Dino Country”, an abandoned filling station.

19) In the same town, the former store (circa 1920s), it’s fate also uncertain. Coal was responsible for the town being built and now it’s behind its demise. There’s an irony here.

20) Encroaching on Sheerness, the coal mine that’ll soon lay waste to the town. Take your photos while you can. Manalta, in the 1980s/1990s, was the owner – there’s been coal mines here in one form or another (underground, surface) for close to a century.

21) A closer look at “Prairie Rose”, one of two huge draglines working at the Sheerness Mine. The other was kilometres away. The size of this thing is mind blowing. And know it’s considered a medium sized dragline. All the coal here is sent to a nearby power plant. In the old days they used to ship it out, by train, to industrial concerns and for domestic use.

22) This former railway bunkhouse once used by crews laying over away from their home terminal. It now resides in a farm yard. See another one here…Railway Bunkhouse.

23) Near Sunnynook, the remains of a train trestle. The line that passed was ex-Canadian National Railways and was in use from the 1920s-1970s. It ran south from a point east of Hanna and passed through many small towns. A typical prairie branch, (the “Peavine Line”), business included coal, grain and later petroleum products. GTCs always include some railway themed stuff.

24) Remnants found along the railway line. The concrete block we’re not completely sure (a support?) whereas the metal thing is an old a flanger sign. A flanger, mounted to a specialized car, scrapes ice away from beside the rails (ice can cause a train to derail). The sign warns the operator to raise the blades due to an close-clearance obstruction ahead – something like grade crossing timbers for example which could get snagged.

25) The much photographed Cessford Stone House. Google it – there’s a million photos of it – some might be ours too. This building dates from the 1910s and has been abandoned longer than your author’s been alive. Shortly after our visit the owners erected some braces on the walls to keep them from toppling over. I’m surprised they stood as long as they did – they always looked precariously balanced at best. It was a nice home in its day – we’ve seen a couple photos.

26) Looking down on Dinosaur Provincial Park. There’s lots of Dino fossils found there in the badlands. Team BIGDoer will be doing a piece on the park come sumer, for the Alberta Parks Department.

27) Yellow! If you know us, you’ll recognize it’s the same colour as Chris’ trademark jacket which you see from time to time. This old fire truck also blends in well with the fields of yellow seen behind.

28) Crossing the mighty Red Deer River on the “Finnegan Ferry”.

29) This is one of a handful of river ferries still in use in the province (seasonally, of course). Just not worth building an expensive bridge here – very little traffic on this highway. Team BIGDoer might be returning here come summer – we’re currently in negotiations to do a cultural piece on this ferry for the Alberta Government. Finger’s crossed it’ll happen – what a cool subject.

30) Just before dropping back into the badlands this sad little farm house, long abandoned. Passed it a million times – thinking next visit we should contact the land owner and see if we can get in.

31) This horse seats five. This old rocking-ride is all metal and quite old. Remember these as a kid, but outside this one, it’s been forever since we’ve seen one. At the Dorothy Alberta playground.

32) Connie knows I hate ironing so she snapped this picture.

33) A rustic old cabin on display in Dorothy. Imaging living in such a place so small. It’s no bigger than a bedroom!

4) What’s this strange thing?

34) GTC Gold! There’s two churches in Dorothy, each facing the other. They used to be in disrepair but some years back but were saved and fixed up. Foreground is Catholic, back United. Did parishioners sneer at each other every Sunday morning as services let in? “Hey you, you’re on the wrong team!”

35) The famous Ant Highway. Everyone takes a photo of the sign! No ants were injured in the making of this article.

36-37) Insert that tired old “I went into a church and didn’t burst into flames” joke here. I use it too often.

38) Something humble and simpler in design. Team BIGDoer has a thing for churches. Never attended but love their strong connection to the communities of which they severed. No town, no matter the size, was complete without one. Hard to imagine Dorothy, always a tiny place, today home to a handful, ever had need for two.

To read more about Dorothy, go here…Dorothy Alberta.

39) An old Deere, and Dorothy’s sad little grain elevator in back. It’s was built in the 1920s and abandoned in the 1950s. A windstorm blew the roof off a few years back. Everyone would love to fix it but there’s no money. The fate of the elevator, if not addressed soon, is something no one will like.

40) The very last photo of the GTC 2017. Here we’re looking at the Church in a little town called Dalum. The building is still used. It’s a fine looking thing too – thinking we should pay it a revisit some time.

And so ends the tour. Hope you’ve enjoyed the photos – commenting will let us know we’re doing it right. Please comment. If you’d like to participate in GTC 2018, drop us a line and we’ll forward it to the organizer.

Cherry picked for you…
Forgotten Prairie.
Museum Tour – Viking Alberta.
Zion Lutheran Church.
Manyberries Alberta Railway Station.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: July, 2017.
Location: Somewhere on the Alberta Plains.
Article references (and thanks): Jason Sailer, the man.
Many of the places seen are on private property. For them our group either photographed from public roads or was on site with permission.

5) They traded up to a double-wide.

6) Mostly tame…

7) See a truck, photograph a truck.

8) In a small town museum.

9) On Canada’s 150th – mementos from fifty years earlier.

10) This old workhorse.

11) Look up…

12) Out to pasture.

13) A charming little barn.

14) A mansion in its day and fields of yellow.

15) School is most definitely out!

16) Thoughts of the old man and his love for beer.

17) The view out some random window.

18) Not long for this world…

19) The store is closed.

20) A company long gone, but the mining continues.

21) Prairie Rose at work.

22) A former railway bunk house in a farm yard.

23) The trains used to run…

24) Stuff left behind.

25) The most photographed stone house on the planet.

26) Looking down on Dino Provincial Park.

27) This shade is called BIGDoer.com yellow.

28) On the Finnegan Ferry.

29) Crossing the mighty Red Deer.

30) Everyone goes away in the end.

31) Room for five.

32) Ironing, the old school way.

33) Little cabin on the prairie.

34) Dorthy’s two churches face off.

35) Total gridlock down there.

36) In this corner, the Catholic Faith.

37) Churches, a favourite subject for Team BIGDoer.

38) And over here, the United.

39) The sad little elevator’s on borrowed time.

40) GTC done, two days of fun at an end, one final pic.