While only thirty seven years separate the photos in this Then & Now, the change has been dramatic. Our subjects today are the grain elevators of Turin Alberta and if this comparison demonstrates anything, is that nothing is forever. That’s even out in rural parts where time seemingly stands still....
Something curious can be seen from the Kootenay Lake (BC) Ferry, there on the east shore and a bit south from the of line of travel. Down at lake level. It appears something industrial once occupied the site, but clearly long ago. There’s not much left but it looks real...
We’re a bit unsure about this comparison. Presenting a Schrodinger’s Then & Now, if you will, that may or may not show the same location roughly a century apart. The old photo is of the Silver Creek Coal Mine in Skunk Hollow Alberta, that much is known, but there’s contradictory...
It happened last summer and memories of this amazing adventure filled journey remain fresh. Imagine a week of epic fun, times a million, spent camping out and playing in the Shadow of Mount Begbie in Revelstoke British Columbia. We hiked, we explored, we searched out history, abandoned things too, we...
Two Buildings in Inglewood: one photographed solely because of its a gaudy pink colour (doing Barbie proud) and the second recalled from childhood memories. These were captured while walking about one of Calgary’s older neighbourhoods and the former’s a church and the other a home, but in the past also...
Calgary’s Nose Hill Park is a vast urban green space, one of the biggest in the country as it turns out, and this hike sort of a best of tour. There’s natural grasslands, aspen groves, sweeping views and many hidden things to discover. The old wrecked car, a glacial erratic,...
Today we’re looking at remains of a silver, lead, zinc and gold mine on a rocky shelf almost at water level. While worked for decades, overall production in terms of volume were quite modest, but the ore nice and rich. This is Molly Hughes by the lake and we’re happy...
Dunshalt Alberta might appear on maps but there’s really nothing there. None the less it’s the focus of this piece. At one time two competing railways crossed paths here but that’s history now. We’re not that far from the big city of Calgary, but it feels like the middle of...
We can’t begin to tell you how chilly it was this blustery and bleak Sunday morning. Biting, icy, frigid, finger numbing, snotsicle forming, Winnipeg cold. Yes, that bad. But there’s a Boler to photograph and we’re obsessed so brave the low temperatures for a snap or two. Can’t feel any...
Trash receptacles like this were once a common sight along British Columbia’s provincial highways, at rest stops and parks. This army of cartoonish monsters were part of a campaign aimed at children to keep the province beautiful and litter free. That was long ago and they’re gone now, but this...
On this warm summer’s eve the The Beer Parlour Project is a bit SW of Edmonton and paying a visit to the Thorsby Hotel, Thorsby Alberta. The project is a collaborative effort between Team BIGDoer, art (film) photographer Rob Pohl and we’re in search of a special vibe. We visit...
The random pick subject today is…Magnesium Chloride. What the? Where do we start? First, these photos were never really meant to be shared, but taken just for us, then by chance were picked for this silly series. We literally close our eyes, select an image (or three) from our collection...
This sectionman’s home stood in the literal middle of nowhere and depending on your take that might be either a downside or perk of the job. If you were to ask us, we’d lean more towards the latter. It’s really out there in the sense that the nearest anything, civilization...
The route described here, the Baldy Pass to Lusk Pass Loop, is an enjoyable outing in the forest and offers up some nice views. This area has been harvested of trees over the years and as such there’s many open places where one can look out to beautiful wooded hills...
Presenting JB Fletcher’s, Ainsworth British Columbia, and it’s seen roughly forty five years apart. This former general store was photographed by Beautiful British Columbia Magazine back in 1978 and a comparison shot captured by us a year or so ago. It’s a timeless scene! The store had only been closed...
We’re in Bellevue Alberta, southern part of the province and right in the front ranges of the Rockies. Here’s the business district and in the background the incredible scar on Turtle Mountain. Welcome to the Crowsnest Pass region (our home away from home) and it’s most noteworthy feature, the Frank...
It’s time for a little fun on the Lethbridge Pathways system! On the route shared today, you’ll be under the cottonwoods, down by the the Oldman River and always in the shadow of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s towering Viaduct (aka the High Level Bridge). There’s wooded groves, open green spaces,...
Jellyfish of Comox Harbour: wasting away the day wandering the marina and in search of interesting things to photograph. There’s personal craft, fishing boats and these are the reason for our visit, but one can’t help be mesmerized by the large number of odd translucent creatures floating about. They’re a...
Here’s a Then & Now with a BIGDoer family connection and it was only twenty seven years in the making. Presenting our kid and his kid (our grandkid) both at ten years old in the cab of the same excursion steam locomotive. The original was captured in Donalda and the...
The bridge is old, narrow and spans the mighty Columbia River. There’s lights at each end for one-way alternating traffic and for decades, long ago, it was the only way get to the other side. Autos or foot traffic. A long crossing of many hundred metres, it was an ambitious...
Welcome to another (hopefully) fun and informative BIGDoer.com Then & Now! In this instalment we’re looking at downtown Fort MacLeod Alberta and comparing two shots taken roughly seventy five years apart. This community is timeless and incredibly appears little changed over time. Take a look for yourself! The Then photo...
Catching a Boler in motion out in the wild does not happen often and requires luck on your side. They’re elusive foes at the best of times and when it plays out it’s by random chance. The stars have to align. Today was just such a day and here’s one...
This easy and enjoyable hike happens not terribly far from Calgary in the West Bragg Creek trail network. Via a loop and making use of several interconnecting trails it takes in the goal of lowly Boundary Ridge. It’s a bump that barely rises above the surrounding countryside, but is still...
Sometimes we’ll just watch trains and if any show up that’s great and if there’s none that’s fine too. We’ll pick a spot somewhere within sight of the tracks, camera in hand, drop a blanket, bring a book, and perhaps a little snack. Then we wait. Sometime the efforts are...
Here’s the latest set of preview pics from the ongoing series Beer Parlour Project with gallery photographer Rob Pohl. Our goal is to visit as many small town old-school hotel pubs as time allows, and document this interesting slice of history. In this instalment we’re at the Tofield Hotel (former...
The Boler Bar High River Alberta: they have the coffee and we got the sticker. It’s a good day! We have a special fondness for Bolers, but you already knew that, and repurposing one into a mobile coffee kiosk seems like a stroke of genius. The two were meant to...
It Continues: Big Valley Inn, Big Valley Alberta, and another stop in our ceaseless quest to document as many small town old-school hotel pubs as we can. It’s for the Beer Parlour Project, the working title for an undertaking by Team BIGDoer and large format film photographer Ron Pohl. Regular...
The subject in today’s Then & Now is the quaint-looking Chinook Motel, Sentinel Alberta, in the scenic and historic Crowsnest Pass. With Crowsnest Mountain a backdrop, we’ll first look at it in the 1960s, thanks to an old postcard image sent in by a reader, and then again some fifty...
In spite of their close proximity to many places we frequent, we’ve seldom explored the Porcupine Hills in Southern Alberta. They’re always within sight when driving major highways in the area yet to us remain mostly a mystery. There’s scattered history in those hills, that we know, and many hiking...
Tranquille BC Sanatorium near Kamloops: opened in 1907 to treat tuberculosis, closed as a mental health facility about 75 years later, mostly empty ever since and said to be haunted. It’s on private land and in talking with an employee(?) of the agricultural firm working on the property, the entire...
Not a lot of years separate these two photos but in that time the change has been dramatic. The trains are no more and the row of elevators has been reduced to one.
Down by the tracks in Arrowwood Alberta, 1997 and 2015. Interestingly the then photo is from us and this a rare case of Team BIGDoer shooting both. It was captured by Chris back when he was doing oilfield hotshot.
The last elevator standing is a former Alberta Wheat Pool facility and dates from the 1970s. That's it's fairly modern is perhaps the reason it survived into today and it's now used by a local farmer for grain storage.
Check the comments to know more π
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Posted by Connie.
Spotted while documenting The Great Beater Challenge, 2021 edition! Here, it's a little diversion into the near ghost town of Orkney Saskatchewan to look at a disused Patterson Grain Elevator. The structure dates from the 1970s and was built with features foreshadowing those used in high throughput grain terminals of today. Fast load systems and the like.
Check out that vintage yield sign and we doubt it's really needed any more. There's no traffic on these streets.
BTW, we got to chase the Beater Challenge 2023 and we'll post about it soon.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2021. Posted by Connie.
After we drop off a couple rolls for processing, we'll call home! A little corner pharmacy, in a nondescript Calgary strip mall, and it's sort of lost in time. Shot in 2016 and we find anachronisms like this fascinating!
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Posted by Connie.
Kaslo BC is home to many gorgeous buildings dating back to the mining boom of the 1890s. The Kaslo Hotel is a standout and from that period. It's stunning but far too classy for ragged wanderers like us!
Seen while passing through town on the road to adventure.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2023. Posted by Connie.
St Francis in the Woods out in BC's East Kootenay region dates back over a century. It's sort of hidden away down a little backroad and is far removed from the modern world. While no longer used in a spiritual capacity, it still hosts community functions from time to time. Otherwise, silence rules.
Know more about this subject in a link posted to the comments.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2023. Posted by Connie.
The same stone house about a century apart and from almost the same angle. It came close to being a proper Then & Now, but interestingly, we didn't know of the old photo when we captured ours.
The house was only lived in for a few decades, starting about 1910 and abandoned on account of arid conditions.
A family of twelve (yes, two parents plus TEN kids) lived in this modest-sized dwelling. Those early pioneers were hardcore. A house in the middle of nowhere, farming conditions that at best were marginal, brutal winters, few neighbours, little of anything and a bus load of children to raise in a house the size of a garage. Give them credit!
Know more via a link in the comments.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2015. Posted by Connie.
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