For your enjoyment it’s two photos of the waterfront in Silverton British Columbia separated by at least a century and similarly composed. The angles line up and it’s a good match! The mountains and lake present a timeless scene, but the SS Slocan, and the railway’s presence in the valley...
Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions #41 is a century old steamer just recently returned to service after a lengthy absence and seen here in 2019 awaiting repairs. Based out of Stettler Alberta it powered tour trains full of happy folks down the scenic line to Big Valley and now it’s back....
We’re at the Greenhill Hotel in Blairmore Alberta and documenting another installment of the Beer Parlour Project (working title) with noted film photographer Robert Pohl. Below, it’s a behind-the-scenes image from this, the second location shoot. It’s really quite a simple concept and we’ll pay these fast disappearing small town...
Backalley Boler: the lanes behind homes are a favourite haunt of little fibreglass trailers and in towns big or small, they account for a good number of our discoveries. We’re always looking down them and this action is often rewarded. Parking spots such as this are a convenient place to...
TV Wasteland: this old CRT television was found well away from any roads, farms or towns in the Alberta Badlands and one has to wonder how it ever got here. We were in search of a little mining history (with permission of the landowner) and hoofing-it cross country through a...
Today we look at some remains next to an abandoned railway line and a grain elevator that once stood near this same spot, but long ago moved to a farm down the road. Up next, it’s Prairie Sentinels, Bulwark Alberta edition and let’s see what tidbits of info we can...
The Rampart – Isadore Loop is a pleasant and easy going walk in the woods out near Cranbrook British Columbia. It’s part single track (Rampart Connector on each end), part rail-trail (Chief Isadore in the middle) through forest and open grassland. Relatively flat in nature, you’ll be in the shadow...
We know of them, but never thought we’d spot one of these rare beasts out in the wild. This brand of motorhome was made so long ago and never sold in huge numbers (and further we suspect most or all were to US customers), so the odds were against it....
The Wilson’s Arch Building in Northeast Calgary is a curious structure and straight out of the quirky ’60s. Architecturally there was lots of innovative stuff going on at the time and this one example of the creative ideas being offered. With a curved roof supported by revolutionary (for the time)...
From 2014: While conducting research we stumbled across something interesting at a local archive unrelated to the subject at hand. It was an old postcard in among miscellaneous files and seemingly placed there by mistake. It caught our eye, however, and got the gears to grinding. We saw a project...
Here’s some really cool roadside rust and this wheeled monster is an old log loader found in the remote mountain community of Beaton British Columbia. It’s a small settlement, so far off the map and hidden away that it might as well be on the moon. Not that it’s a...
There were once hundreds of these octagonal shaped buildings across the Canadian Pacific Railway network. Used to feed boilers of the firm’s vast fleet of steam locomotives, they could be found at regular intervals up and down the line. In addition to fuel (coal or oil, depending) locomotives of the...
If you see one of these little fibreglass trailers, you have a duty to shout it loud and shout it proud. It’s what we did with this example, discovered by chance on a Calgary Street and in the fall of 2020. We always end up looking stupid, but whatever, and...
Massage – Lics – Lubetown: a photo pulled completely at random from the archives, be it good or bad, and presented here in all its glory. No, our subject is not something dirty this time, even though it sounds like we’re headed that way, but the names of three businesses...
Presenting another epic BIGDoer.com Then & Now and in this instalment we’re looking at the old Highway #3/93 bridge over the Kootenay River at Wardner BC. The original photo dates back to the late ’60s and in the fifty some years that have passed, the scene is remarkably the same....
There’s a huge number of trails in the Kimberley BC area and for the outdoor adventurers it means unlimited possibilities. There’s big variety and the interconnected networks are curated by various clubs/organizations. If you’re a hiker, biker, XC skier or snowshoer (have we missed anyone?), or some combo therein, you’ll...
Coaling mining today is nothing like it used to be. Now they just dig a giant pit and get at it, but compare that to how things were not all that long ago. Back then men toiled underground and put their backs into making Swiss Cheese of the earth. These...
Waiting on the Queen: flashback to the summer of ’73 and her Royal Highness is paying Calgary a visit. On a goodwill tour of Canada, her stop in this city was one of many on what was a whirlwind trip. She was always a busy person during her decades long...
Ahead, it’s random things seen while exploring this prairie community, over two frigid mornings around sunrise. Thank you Mother Nature for this wonderful opportunity and there’s nothing more fun than freezing one’s appendages off. I can’t feel my fingers! This is Three Hills at dawn, in February, and in hindsight...
Remember Car2Go Calgary, the vehicle sharing service that was set to revolutionize urban transportation here in the city in 2012? No? Even though they haven’t been gone for long (since 2019), it appears they’ve become a footnote in the collective minds of people in and around Cowtown. Does anyone remember?...
The hike to Devil’s Hole in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia is short, sweet and leads to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking a deep precipitous gorge. From this spot, look down to that little blue/green pond far below in a rocky trench or take in surrounding mountains. It’s a...
Presenting two camping trailers from two different eras and side by side. The first is a modern example outside our field of interest and the second, something we’re hopelessly obsessed with. You guessed it, the latter’s a member of Boler fraternity and day or night, they’re on our mind. The...
For a time, long ago, the Sleepee Teepee Motel was a local landmark in the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta. Located in the community of Blairmore, it was kitschy to the extreme and made to look as though a western fort with a First Nation’s encampment out front. With battlements, a...
The word of the day is defined as “an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident” (dictionary.com). We’re talking about a special but unexpected aligning of the stars leading to good fortune. Incidentally, these extraordinary moments seem to happen to us with a frequency greater than it should. “Serendipity” at...
There’s some easy fun to be had in the rolling foothills southwest of Calgary and out in the Sandy McNabb trail network. Come take in the nice views from Long Prairie Ridge, a long low bump, running east-west and super easy to access via the route described here. Most of...
We’ve got a railway themed T&N for you today and here we’re looking down at the tracks in Cochrane Alberta at the Canadian Pacific’s transcontinental mainline. The first image dates from 1984 and shows an eastbound freight at the edge of town, and in 2014 we visited the same location...
We’re looking at a rare breed of little fibreglass trailer and get this, it was spotted maybe thirty clicks from its birthplace in Red Deer Alberta. The location is a town just south of that central Alberta city, and this a completely random find. There we were just driving by...
Good morning Equity Alberta! We’re on the ground at sunrise (and a gorgeous one it is), just south of this little dot on the map and looking at this relatively modern Cargill grain terminal. It’s not really historic in any sense, but it’s so pretty as a picture, we just...
Today we’re looking at Austin’s vintage heavy-hauling work truck, an early 1970s Kenworth W925 and approaching fifty years old it’s almost twice the age of its owner/operator. It’s seen here on standby for fire fighting duty and since the alarm could sound at any time, it’s kept prepped and ready...
There’s some silly fun in the forecast. Come jump on board Calgary Transit #1046, a vintage GM Fishbowl (still in old CTS blue) and hit the road with a group of crazy bus nuts for a special fantrip. We’ll be your guide, so grab a good seat and enjoy the...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
Posted
Don Wilson: The Greenhill Hotel Blairmore AB is Timeless
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
Posting soon!
Byron Robb - Zeke - Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola - Don Wilson - Johanna (Connie) Biggart - Dale
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