This post has been updated: An Evening in Meeting Creek The old photos and a few snippets have been kept and are seen below… …Inside are a number of displays and bits related to the day to day operations of an elevator, including a very old drive engine, in the...
The two pictures we’ll be looking at in this report show the Fort MacLeod Alberta post office at two completely different times in the building’s history. The first image, scanned from an old postcard, was shot sometime in 1950s and we return some sixty years later to see how it...
In May 2014 we toured the southwest corner of Saskatchewan on a quest to find grain elevators, ghost towns and abandoned farms. We also came in search of vintage cars, trucks (especially), strange and odd motorhomes, locomotives – anything old and interesting that has wheels and an engine. And guess...
Picture Butte, a small town located just north of Lethbridge, is home to one traditional wooden grain elevator, which is today’s subject. This massive structure, long since closed down by it’s original owner, but today being used by a local farmer to store grain, sits alongside an abandoned rail line....
This was not our first trip up Powderface Ridge this year, Earlier in the spring we hiked it, but a thick fog prevented us from seeing anything once at the summit. What a bummer, as we heard the views were stupendous. Even before we finished that first trip, we vowed...
For this delightful foothills hike we follow the Elbow Valley trail east from the Ing’s Mine day use area, then loop back to where we started using the Sulphur Springs trail on the return leg. While much of the trip is in the trees, every now and then things open...
Boler spotting can be thought of as a big game of hide and seek. These trailers are often secreted away on someone’s property, in a backyard, in alleys or parked on tree lined driveways, and as such are often difficult to catch. A passionate player of the Boler spotting game...
Some forty years separate the two images seen here in this report. In them we look at the CPR’s Crowsnest Line, in the town of Crowsnest, straddling the BC/Alberta border. The first photograph was submitted to us by a reader of the BIGDoer.com website, and was taken way back in...
A short and steep trail heads up to the South End of Lawson, aka Little Lawson or simply South Lawson, a rocky summit with stupendous views of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Kananaskis Lakes and the Opal Ranges (among others). This destination is a highpoint on a long undulating ridge that...
The small southern Alberta community of Milk River is home to three very photogenic traditional-style wood cribbed grain elevators. It’s almost a “row”, which I know is technically four or more, but does it really matter here? Trivialities aside, finding this many elevators in one spot in 2014 is pretty...
This report we’ll be looking at another of Saskatchewan’s iconic bowstring arch bridges. In the 1920s and 30s around eighty of these graceful structures were built, and fair number remain today. Some are still being used for road traffic, some are pedestrian use only, and others have been abandoned like...
In this “then and now” we look at the Maple Creek Saskatchewan Post Office, first in 1911, via a photo from an old postcard, and then how the fine old building appears today. And it looks wonderful. This series was shot during our (now, almost famous) spring 2014 Saskatchewan grain...
This 13 foot Boler – or 3.96 metre if we must metric-ize it – and I usually do but admittedly the conversion here is downright awkward – was spotted on a blustery, miserable, cold and rainy day in the central Alberta town of Innisfail. It was not a day conducive...
The unofficially named Greenhill Mine Ridge or simply Greenhill Ridge, a modest sized bump that was once mined for coal, offers some surprisingly good views from its lowly summit. This hike follows a series of old roads, 4×4 tracks with the occasional bit of bushwhacking thrown in for good measure....
The small community of Rosedale Alberta is located in the scenic Red Deer River valley near Drumheller and is home to one relatively modern wooden grain elevator. This imposing structure, today is in private hands, yet it’s still painted in the colours of its former owner. Until recently there was...
The Diplomat Mine interpretive site is home to two gargantuan mining shovels, built on such a scale that it’s hard to even describe them. Even in person, their size is simply overwhelming. Both are quite old and each toiled away for years at the mine extracting coal and overburden day...
Situated along the Canadian Pacific Railway’s busy east/west mainline, Gull Lake Saskatchewan is home to two old and very photogenic traditional style wood-cribbed grain elevators; and one newer high throughput concrete grain terminal. The former will be the subject of this report, the latter, being too new and not terribly...
The Fort Motel in Fort MacLeod Alberta, seen in an old postcard circa 1960 and again on a quiet evening late in 2023. It's one of many old style motor-court motels in this historic town and as you can see it's little changed over time. Too bad about that sign, though. The Fort Motel first makes mention in phone directories in the early fifties.
To know about our subject scroll down to a link in the comments. Hey Lethbridge Historical Society, thought you'd like this!
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Posted by Connie.
Just once we'd like to get a clear shot of the grain terminal in Cassils Alberta without a pesky train photo bombing the shot. 😜
Empress #2816 and it's seen last week on the Final Spike Steam Train as it heads east. We had wonderful luck picking more out of the way locations and completely avoided any crowds. There were only a few people present here but we saw footage showing rather chaotic scenes elsewhere.
We met a few old friends on this adventure, made some new ones and had a grand time. If we chatted along the way, it was so nice to meet you, and we invite any of our readers/friends to share photos they captured of this historic train. Drop photos in the comments and can't wait to see them!
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2024. Posted by Connie.
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.
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