Carbon Alberta 1946, 1992 & 2024

Let’s focus attention on the little community of Carbon Alberta and more specifically, the town’s grain elevator row. Down there by the tracks, or in the present context where they and those structures used to be. Those prairie sentinels, the train station, the railway itself and the section house far in the distance are all gone. Now there’s just a big and empty field there. You’d never know what was!

This spot is a little offset from town and the community doesn’t appear in the photos. From this angle and if you didn’t know, you might think it totally vanished off the map, or never existed to begin with. No, it’s there and a nice place too (population 500ish). We’ll be presenting to you a visual and written journey across time, of a corner in quaint prairie town nestled in a scenic little valley.

The Then photo is something awesome and comes thanks to the Floyd Yeats collection at the University of Calgary archives. Floyd worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway (from the 1930s-1970s) and often brought his camera to work. That’s a no-no today, but back then seemingly not a big deal. He travelled all over and chronicled his day to day during work. The photos are often a behind the scenes in nature and a good look into a sometimes hidden world.

Carbon Alberta 1946…

Floyd found himself working the Langdon Subdivision branch (Langdon to East Coulee Alberta) and captured the Then photo used here. The date’s April 1946 and the the image captioned: “Canadian Pacific Railway Kneehill mixed train with locomotive 2534, Carbon, Alberta.” Kneehill is the creek that the railway line parallels in the area and for which the valley seen here is also named. The creek is to the right and just off frame in his (and our) photo.

Mixed trains were commonly seen on less busy lines like this and were comprised of both freight and passengers cars (usually just a coach tacked to the end). It would be a relaxed way to travel, but it worked for the times.

The train also has some work cars in the mix and in the photo description it’s said these were used to repair a “slip out”. Note the ballast car and the material it carries likely was used to shore up some section of roadbed in the area. The line did run beside the creek a lot and it may have undercut some sections due to spring runoff. Based on photos found it was an all to common occurrence in the area and on this line.

This photo, incidentally, appears backwards in the archives and corrected for this post.

Locomotive #2534 is a G2 class Pacific locomotive and these were a general purpose engine well suited for this type of run. Even back then it was old and with diesels to soon dominate, living on borrowed time. The coach is seen in front of the station and detached from the rest of the train to perhaps wait out the work being done. We’d love to know more and bet we’re not alone.

The same grain elevators seen in Floyd’s photo appears in ours from the 1990s visit, but long gone by the time we snapped the Now 2024 photo. We’ll chat about them shortly and what changes occurred to them over time.

Carbon Alberta 1992…

Flashback to fall of that year and it’s time for little exploration in an area northeast of Calgary. Then as now, it’s grain elevators we’re searching out, although as time passes that task gets harder and harder. Ahead, it’s a stop in Carbon Alberta and this affords a chance to take in the town’s four prairie sentinels. There they are in a nice little row and some were even loading rail cars.

The large number of grain hoppers on the elevator sidings would have one believing that all is well in the industry and that trains would continue to visit here for some time to come. But it’s wishful thinking, as we’ll soon find out, and before long the elevators seen here will be gone and the rail line abandoned.

Still at the time such thoughts were not considered and us oblivious to the impending changes that would soon take over both industries. The elevators and rail lines will always be there…right?

Carbon was situated at the end of steel at the time of this visit, but in the past the rails continued on east. The track once extended further to tap the coal fields of the Red Deer River Valley but when that market dried up, it got cut back to here in the early 1980s. The rails ended just a bit east of the elevators by then.

This branch came in from the namesake town of Langdon just east of Calgary and the track through Carbon arrived around 1920/21. The town was founded the decade before but really sprang to life once the railway began running. Back when coal was king, it moved on the line in great quantity and came from the aforementioned mines further east, plus a couple local to Carbon. When that traffic ended grain became the only commodity of any volume moving.

The tracks to Carbon Alberta were abandoned and pulled up about 1996-1997.

Of the four elevators, three are painted for the Alberta Wheat Pool (AWP) in 1992 and with the one straggler smack dab in the middle, painted in the colours of Pioneer Grain. Both of these companies were some of the larger players in the industry and of the era.

At the time of this visit, the line to Carbon got serviced sporadically and this depended on the grain market. Many prairie branches were at the mercy of demand and commodity prices, both of which could fluctuate wildly. When business boomed, the trains moved often and when not, the line saw little action.

It’s interesting how well maintained the track appears in these photos. Often branchlines would have weed-choked and minimally maintained track, but here the standards seemed higher. These secondary tracks were usually maintained on a shoe string budget and often it showed.

At the time the most westerly Pool elevator and the one belonging to Pioneer were both busy loading railcars. The most easterly Pool elevator was not, but based on the spilled grain found in close proximity, it may have done so recently. The smallest stand alone AWP elevator, so the second most westerly one, was used for fertilizer storage.

A section shed (storage for track materials) could be found opposite the elevators on this visit but it’s not visible in the 1940s view. Maybe hidden from view by the station or not yet built?

The rail cars seen in these shots are fairly modern (for the time) grain hoppers. In 1992 there were still some elevators elsewhere that loaded boxcars but not the ones in Carbon. However, not that far back it would not be strange to see them here.

Grain boxes were still quite common up the mid 1980s and even beyond. As late as 1992 the CPR still had several hundred in service but not in this area. They were terribly inefficient and the whole concept of using boxcars to handle grain seemed rather antiquated. Especially to outsiders. Yet that practice remained in place for decades and decades.

The Grain Elevators:

There’s a long and sometimes complicated history here, but let’s see what we can make of it. Let’s use Floyd’s 1946 image for reference and we’ll compare that to our 1990s pics to see the change.

The most westerly elevator (so furthest away) in Floyd’s photo dates from 1920 and built for United Grain Growers. In 1928 it was acquired by the Alberta Wheat Pool and its capacity increased via the addition of a second elevator right beside it in 1955. The two then operated as one as a twinned elevator.

The next in line dates from 1921 and photo evidence from the 1970s shows it painted white. This suggests a United Grain Growers connection at the time (their “company colours” and not used by anyone else) but the history book mentions Federal Grain earlier owned it. Federal’s Alberta network was acquired by the Pool, so that adds to the confusion. Still, it’s confirmed as a Pool property in the early 1980s and when converted to fertilizer storage. It was no longer rail served even if still beside the tracks.

The third elevator dates to 1929 and built for and used till the end by Pioneer Grain. Where as the Pool has been merged out of existence (starting in the 1990s) and it’s to the point that it seems the firm completely vanished, Pioneer is still around. They’re called Richardson Pioneer now.

United Grain Growers, mentioned earlier, later got folded into the Pool menagerie. The Alberta Pool plus the Manitoba and Saskatchewan Pools, then add in UGG, over the span of a few years and everyone’s completely confused.

The forth elevator dates from 1921 and looks to have an Alberta Pacific Grain company signage in view there in Floyd’s photo. It’s a little hard to see, so we won’t say that’s confirmed. The history books mentions it was later a Federal Grain Company elevator. Federal did own Alberta Pacific starting in the 1940s and a couple decades later completely folded it into the Federal network.

The lineage and timeframe works but that’s all we know. The history book only says it was a Federal so we’ve nothing more to work with there.

In the early 1960s, a newly constructed elevator was built beside this one and the two combined functionally as a twin. Photo evidence from the 1970s shows them painted white (so UGG colours again), but at some point the Pool acquired or reacquired the complex. Grain elevators were not always repainted right away after changing hands and this further complicates matters.

At some point a warehouse type structure was added next to this elevator and presumably got used for bagged products delivered (fertilizer?) by rail. It did have a a railway loading dock and this is seen in our 1990s photo. Starting in the 1980s, a couple of the elevators were adapted to load two tracks worth of rail cars at a time.

All the elevators at various times had annexes added or removed. These were simply a way to increase capacity and functionality wise were an extension of the elevator to which they were attached. These could be wooden structures in many forms and sized or in later years metal bins were commonly used.

These elevators were torn down about the time the railway pulled out or soon after.

In Floyd’s photo, the station sits across from the elevators and it vanished a decade or so after. Roads in the area improved and this killed off rail passenger service. The section house was for the person whose duties were maintaining track and infrastructure in the area. Both these buildings were quite common in the old days along railway lines, but not any more.

Carbon Alberta 2024…

Everything in Yeats’ photo is now history and long gone. The slate is wiped clean and much lost. There’s no signs of anything in the grass…no foundations nor bits of concrete that we could find…and nothing else really. Disclaimer: unless well hidden. It’s as though nothing in the old photo ever existed and that’s strange. With all of it gone, who will remember? The towns still there but this once important connection to the outside world seems completely forgotten.

The old rail line has is now a walking trail, but without knowing this you might think it’s an old road or some such thing. Carbon Alberta, like many small towns where the closing of the railway and elevators similarly happened, seems to have lost something in the process.

Interestingly, the fence seems the same today compared to when Floyd shot his photo. Those cedar posts must last forever. One thing is constant and it’s an beautiful view from up there. The reverse angle is just as nice and very different from the flat prairie above.

We like to do many varied things and the day before shooting this BIGDoer Then & Now, attended the lawnmower races in nearby Linden Alberta. How do you describe it? Stock mowers and others modified for racing, duking it out in a no-holds barred battle to be fastest in their class. It’s an adrenaline fueled, danger filled, wild ride to glory and defeat is not an option.
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We and our grandkid Ben, who helped out with photography this weekend, had a grand weekend thanks to the fun of the previous day and the making of this very post. Hope you enjoyed this across-time look at Carbon Alberta and stayed tuned for more like this.

If you have an old photo you’ve taken, or from a family collection you think would work well as the starting point for a Then & Now like this, be sure and contact us. We’re always looking for new subjects and we can fill you in on what types of images work best.

Know more about the town: (new tab): Carbon Alberta.

They’re saying…

“…always interesting, and Chris & Connie do an amazing job on studying their subject matter.” Rik Barry.

Then & Now overload…
Robsart Saskatchewan 61 Years Apart.
Silver Streak 1976 Train Station Okotoks AB.
Shaunavon Saskatchewan ~70 years apart.

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Date of adventure: April 1946 (original) + fall 1992 and June 2024 (us).
Location: Carbon, Alberta.
Article references and thanks: Floyd Yeats Collection UofC Archives, Carbon – our History, our Heritage (book), date-confirmed photos from Jane Daua (1988) and Henry Niznik (1977), plus our Village of Carbon contact whose name we lost (sorry).

Carbon Alberta in 1946 and 2024.

1992…

Back when the trains still ran.

Near the same fence.

Lots of railcars on the grain elevator sidings.

2024…

A BIGDoer Then & Now being made.

The reverse view up at the fence line.

The town of Carbon is off-frame and to the right.

The railway roadbed is used as a walking trail.

The train station and grain elevators once stood in this field.

Linden Alberta The Day Before…

At the Linden Lawnmower Races.

A shot by our grandson Ben.

Some fast paced fun!