Monthly Archive: May 2013

Heritage Park colonist car

Then and now, the National Dream

Calgary’s Heritage Park is a wonderful living history museum. With so many exhibits and things to explore, it would be hard to see it all in a single day. Many movies and TV shows have been shot here, including the mid 1970s CBC mini series, the National Dream. For this...

Kirkpatrick grain elevator

Prairie Sentinels – Kirkpatrick Alberta

Silently standing vigil for almost ninety years, the lonely grain elevator at Kirkpatrick Alberta is a survivor. It outlasted the rail line it used to sit along and has endured while so many other wooden elevators on the prairies have fallen. Privately owned, this is no doubt the reason why...

Dorothy AB Catholic Church

Dorothy Alberta

Dorothy Alberta is a charming little town – not quite a ghost town but pretty darn close. It’s home to a number of well known and often photographed landmarks, in particular its two quaint churches and the solitary grain elevator that looms over the highway. Under gorgeous blue skies we...

Duct tape Boler trailer

Duct tape Boler

This Boler, held together in places with liberal amounts of duct tape, could perhaps use a little TLC. A 17′ model, which we have been seeing a lot of lately, it looks a little rough around the edges but is probably not that bad off. The beauty of a Boler...

Security Elevator Company

Prairie Sentinels – Heritage Park Calgary

Cloudy skies, cool temperatures and light rain all conspired to make for a gloomy day. It was not a promising outlook and it seemed a waste heading into the hills. With that in mind, perhaps this would be a good time to explore Calgary’s living history museum, Heritage Park. It’s...

Boler trailer Drumheller

Red Deer River valley Boler

This Boler was seen while travelling the up and down the Red Deer River Valley near Drumheller Alberta. Spotted far off the highway, it was only dumb luck (or our Boler-radar) that allowed us to catch it. I am sure we could have driven past a hundred times and not...

Rosebud grain elevator

Rosebud Alberta then and now

In this then and now series our subject is Rosebud Alberta, specifically the railway line and the town’s grain elevators. In the first image we see a CNR train passing by and for our attempt we do our best to capture that same shot. It’s difficult since all the structures...

Triple E Surfside trailer

Not a Boler – a Triple E Surfside

This is only the second Triple E Surfside we’ve seen and this example was found only weeks after our first sighting. Among the “look-a-likes”, this model would only be confused with a true Boler from a distance, since it’s a little too squared in shape. Note how it’s chained up...

Overlooking Wayne Alberta

Then and now overlooking Wayne Alberta

This post has been updated and can be found here: Looking Down on Wayne Alberta. Then & Now time! Old Slocan Highway. Calgary Then & Now: From Tom Campbell Hill. Crowsnest Pass then and now – Chinook Motel. If you wish more information about this place, by all means contact...

17" Boler trailer

Streetview Boler

The location of this Boler was submitted by a reader of this blog and this person took up my challenge to find one of these trailers using Google Streetview. Essentially, one travels around randomly on their computer using Google Streetview, until they spot one. Try to find one yourself, it’s...

Old farmhouse front door

Abandoned and old part 2 – with Sharpeshots.com

The second instalment in this series, pro photographer John Sharpe and I continue our quest to document old farms, buildings and abandoned things southeast of Calgary. It’s been a productive trip and we contently snap away, discovering lots of gems to shoot as we go. Driving about with no particular...

Porter mine locomotive

Coal mine locomotives

Calgary’s Heritage Park is a wonderful living museum with numerous exhibits and displays documenting this area’s fascinating past. There are far too many things to see in a single day so for this pass our goal was to document some of the park’s extensive collection of railway equipment. The big...

Junction Hill

Junction Hill recon

This trip has us exploring the flanks of Junction Hill in the front ranges near the Highwood River area of Kananaskis. A reconnaissance mission, one goal we had was to see if we could gain said summit via a series of old coal exploration roads on the east side of...

Dodge truck emblem

Deanz Garage – with Sharpeshots.com

I’m hanging with pro John Sharpe and our goal is to discover old farms and other interesting places to photograph. With no specific route in mind we just point the van in a direction and drive. Finding ourselves southeast of Calgary between the towns of High River and Vulcan, we...

Calgary Boler Trailer

Boler on the move

This year is looking to be a great one for Boler spotting and the tally as of May 2013 is twelve seen and eleven photographed, the most recent being this example here. In contrast, last year at this time we had documented only half as many overall. This Boler is...

Sharpeshots house and barn

Abandoned and old part 1 – with Sharpeshots.com

On this adventure I was accompanied by professional photographer John Sharpe. We share similar interests, old farms and the like for example, and we’ve been planning a trip for some time now. That day finally arrived and this would be a great chance to get out and have fun, but...

Female Grouse

Death Valley – Windy Point – Foran Grade loop

At this time of year access to the mountains is limited, either by snow or due to seasonal road closures. This means we have to settle for hikes in the foothills, not that it’s such a bad thing. Any hike is a good one and while the views along this...

Triple E Surfside

Not a Boler – a Triple E Surfside

Until this tiny beast showed up in our neighbourhood just a few days ago, I had never heard of this Boler look-alike. It’s called the Triple E Surfside but given it’s more squared lines I thought it was a similar looking Trillium at first (the most common Boler-ish brand seen)....

Princeton BC railway line

Princeton BC train station and rail yard

Setting the time machine back to August 1989, you’ll find me in Princeton BC looking at the remains of the old rail line that passed through here. Abandoned only months before my visit, all of the track remained in place as though waiting for a train to come. And the...

Beiseker AB grain elevators

Prairie Sentinels – Beiseker Alberta

It’s the early fall of 1992 and I am on a road trip Northeast of Calgary. With no particular destination in mind I travel along random roads to see where they take me. Ultimately I end up in the Red Deer River valley near Drumheller, but before that I find...

Alco S2 headlight

Canadian Pacific Railway Alco S2 7019

At the gateway to Calgary’s Heritage Park are two locomotives. One is from the celebrated Selkirk class, a mountain conquering steam and smoke belching monster. At the time, her and her sisters were the biggest such engines on the CPR system and this example was one of the last steam...

Slack pile and caboose

In search of Mitford Alberta part 3: Bow River Coal

In this, the third instalment in the “In search of Mitford” series, we hike into the location of the Bow River Coal Mine/Mitford Colliery to explore what’s left. The first was one of the earliest operations of its type in the province and quite short lived, coming into production in...

Yates Mountain

Stoney Trail – Marilyn Monroe combo

While not a terribly exciting hike, the route described here was none the less a delight for us. After all, it had been many months, back in 2012 in fact, since we got into the mountains, the heavy snow pack holding us at bay for that time. With that in...

Pair of Boler trailers

Band of Bolers

Not one, not two, but SEVEN Bolers were spotted in a single day, in fact all within minutes of each other. And remarkably to see them all we covered only two city blocks! This is a personal record for us and since we started the Boler Spotting Game some years...

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