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...
The Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary is a centre for performing arts, built in celebration of the province’s 50th anniversary (or “Jubilee” year) in 1955. Now close to sixty years old, the building is still a busy place and hosts many events throughout the year, and in in fact...
This post has been retired and an updated version can be found here: SAIT Heritage Hall (Built Early 1920s). See you there! They’re saying… “Great people and great articles! I am honored to know both Chris & Connie and to also have collaborated on photo trips or helped with research....
For this “then and now” post, a two-parter, we visit Central Memorial Park to look at Calgary’s Cenotaph, the Boer War Statue and Memorial Park Library in behind. The originals that we’ll try to duplicate are from a couple old postcards provided to us by a reader of this blog...
It’s the spring of 1989 (I think) and after working for months on end without break, I take a couple days off from my job in Vancouver BC to visit the sunny Okanagan. I spend one afternoon in Kelowna where I explore the railway in town. What, no relaxing on...
In this report we take a look at the CPR’s former Beiseker Alberta train station which now houses that town’s offices along with a library and museum. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013, the building is in fine shape and sits only metres from where it was built. The railway...
The former Riverside Iron Works site in the historic neighbourhood of Ramsay has found a new lease on life and some of the old buildings are being converted into offices and studios. Once a ratty old factory, gritty and dirty, parts have been cleaned up and remodelled and look as...
The elevator seen here, the tallest thing for kilometres around, sits at a farm north of Fort MacLeod Alberta. An old building, some says it dates from the 1910s, the current owners think the 1920s, the structure was moved here, from a nearby town, way back in the 1970s. What...
Located close to the historic site for which its named, the Buffalo Jump Arts and Crafts store not far from Gleichen is abandoned and forgotten and close to collapse. Empty and open to the elements, it’s only a matter of time before it’s gone. This structure is located along the...
For this Calgary then and now report, we take a look at the circa 1910 Louise Block and 1909 Bell Block located just south of downtown near the old warehouse district. Sitting alongside northbound MacLeod Trail, a busy artery into the core, thousands of cars a day pass by the...
For this then and now series we look at the St George’s Island (or Zoo Island) Bridge in Calgary. The first view is from an undated postcard and the second was shot by us recently. In spite of our angles being off a bit, we can see that the bridge...
In this report we look at a vintage postcard that shows 1st St SW in Calgary (undated – probably 1910s), and we return to that spot to see how it looks today. Of those buildings seen in the original image only one remains intact, although a second, the church at...
Being so tiny, Boler trailers can fit nearly anywhere and when not being used they can often be found tucked away in back yards or in alley parking spots. Or as we see here, you can put it in an out of the way area at the the end of...
To the motorists driving by on busy MacLeod Trail, it’s the Big Yellow house in Victoria Park just off downtown Calgary. Surrounded by parking lots and condo towers, it sits alone and looks terribly out of place and in fact it’s the only house left in the immediate area. It’s...
For this adventure we’re accompanied by fellow history explorer Jon Dirks and together we examine an old forgotten Buffalo Jump not far from Gleichen Alberta. Know as a Pishkun (or Piskun) this was once a place of great importance to the Blackfoot People. Today it’s quiet, save for the noise...
Alexandra School is located just east of downtown Calgary in the historic neighbourhood of Inglewood. Just over a century old, the building looks good, in spite of some ugly additions, and today is used as a community centre. The “then” image is from an old post card dated 1908 and...
This post has been updated and can be found here: Mewata Armoury Downtown Calgary. To see other Calgary then and now series we’ve created, click these links… Waiting on the Queen (Calgary 1973). Calgary Then & Now: Ogden Bus Loop. Calgary Then & Now: From Tom Campbell Hill. If you’d...
It’s been an amazing record year for Boler spotting and as of the writing of this report, we’ve seen fifty two so far. Included in that is out latest find, the “shades of grey” Boler found in Calgary in December of of 2013. They just keep coming and and we...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
Posted
Byron Robb: Superman 1978: Cemetery Scenes
Don Wilson: RCAF/CFS Alsask Radar Dome
Sharon Wingenbach: You Are Here: Corral 4 Drive-in Calgary
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola: Alexandra Bridge Fraser Canyon BC
Bob Fortin: CPR Illecillewaet Bridge Revelstoke BC
Rory Brown: Downtown Calgary & CPR Tracks 1977-2014
Dale: The Forgotten Cemetery of Morrissey BC
Sharon Wingenbach: MacDonald Bridge Calgary ~70 Years Apart
Gary Small: Polish Hall Coleman Alberta (1927)
Twold7: Calgary Inglewood Haskins/Victory Block
Gary Small: CPR Bow River Bridge (Abandoned)
Ken Newel: Grain Elevators of Turin Alberta
Gary Small: Silver Creek Coal Mine Skunk Hollow
Bonita Hudson: Coleman Miners’ Hospital 100 Years Apart
Gary Small: Dunshalt Alberta 1974 and 2013
Posting soon!
Byron Robb - Zeke - Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola - Don Wilson - Johanna (Connie) Biggart - Dale
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