Monthly Archive: January 2014
In this then and now post (we do a lot of them) we look at three old photos contributed by a reader showing some Edmonton Transit trolley buses in service. Our goal is to revisit those locations to see what they look like today. In spite of the forty five...
In this Calgary Transit then and now, we see two vintage scenes showing trolley buses near 17th Avenue and 8th St SW and we visit those locations to see how things looks today. For both dates, a prominent brick building can be seen in behind, which helps establish a connection...
The two Brokeback Mountain scenes shown in this report, that we will try to duplicate, were filmed in Fort MacLeod in southern Alberta. We see Ennis driving a truck, round a corner and then pull into his driveway. Two simple scenes shot from the same position, separated by only seconds....
We love producing these then and nows posts as a silly little diversion. In this T&N it’s a look at one of Calgary’s many (roughly) century old sandstone schools with this example found in the community of Hillhurst just north of downtown. First, we look at an old image showing...
The larger grain elevator seen in this report, located in Leduc Alberta, dates from the late 1970s making it one of the last of its type built in the province. Saved from demolition when it was closed at the turn of the last century, it has been saved and made...
In this report we look at two grain elevators in the city of St Albert Alberta. Both are clearly well cared for and reside in an open air museum in the southwest corner of town. One of the pair is among the oldest in the province, but in spite of...
In this report we look at a cute little trailer called a Beachcomber, the first one of this type we’ve ever seen. While it has a lot of Boler-like features (small size, fibreglass construction) its squared shape means it will never be confused with the other. In spite of that,...
For this adventure we head up north to Edmonton where we explore the century old Norwood School. We have a picture from an old post card and we want to see how much has changed since that original was taken so long ago. Amazingly, the building looks much as it...
For this then and now post, we look at a couple rail scenes in Calgary separated by over three decades. In the “then” image taken in by noted rail photographer Mike Dunham-Wilkie, we see Via Rail’s Canadian heading eastbound. For the “now” shot we revisit that same location to see...
The massive train bridge seen here carries the CPR’s north/south mainline over the Bow River in Calgary, just east of downtown. Located next to Nose Creek and just up from Harvie Passage, a kayakers paradise, the bridge has stood here for what must be close to a century. The structure...
Built in the early 1980s, incredibly atop land that was once a dirty old oil refinery, the former community of Lynnview Ridge was demolished some ten years ago out of fears of soil contamination within the area. The big question on everyone’s mind is why would they build on what...
In this then and now post we look at the Scarboro United Church in the Calgary neighbourhood of the same name. The first image is from the late 1920s/early 1930s (a guess – from an old postcard) and second shows how it appears today. In spite of the seventy plus...
While travelling random back roads we always seem to stumble across something interesting – old farms, machinery, all kinds of left over and abandoned stuff – it’s amazing what we find. An example of a very cool and rather strange discovery, happened upon totally by accident (as is often the...
In this then and now post we compare a 1969 picture showing a Calgary Transit trolley bus on the South Calgary run, to what the same location looks like today. In spite of the forty plus years that have passed since the first was taken, the immediate background has remained...
If you are a regular reader of this blog you have no doubt seen some of the movie “then and now” series we’ve posted here. Simply, we take a scene from a film shot in our area and revisit the location to see what it looks like today. If conditions...
Known affectionately (to us anyway) as the “little yellow locomotive”, this tiny engine sits on a disused siding at the abandoned Coleman Collieries coal processing plant in the Crowsnest Pass. It once worked at this very site and when the operation closed, it was simply left behind and forgotten. Looking...
In this then and now post we look at the small community of Frank Alberta. The first image shows downtown shortly after the famous Frank Slide disaster occurred and the second, the same view today. In both, the jumble of rocks and boulders stands out in the background. The first...
This post has been retired, but the pics kept for your enjoyment, and an updated version can be found here: Prairie Sentinels: Fort MacLeod Alberta. See you there! If you like grain elevators… Prairie Sentinels: Willingdon Alberta. Buffalo 2000. Prairie Sentinels – Tessier Saskatchewan. If you’d like to know more...
This little Boler trailer was seen on the first day 2014 and so becomes our first sighting of the year. We’re off to a good start! It was found completely by chance. as it often the case, just outside the small community of Lundbreck at the entrance to the historic...
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