Our subject is not terribly old and while less than photogenic it is abandoned and there in lies the appeal. There’s something haunting about a place like this, a former business in this instance, closed down and forgotten. Call it strange, yet here were are. This is Highway Gas, a...
General Motors once made transit buses and lots of them too. In the 1940s-1980s period they were a dominate player and at times appeared to literally own the market. Their “New Look” model is perhaps most iconic of all and we’ve chatted about them before at this website, but today...
There’s something magic about wandering a small town come evening and on road trips we do it every chance we get. Late in the day, the community’s charm and character is at its best and it’s a peaceful way to wind down. We lead such busy lives – go-go-go –...
If you’re into things like gritty industrial parks and little used railway tracks (and who isn’t?), then this post is for you! Tag along with us to wander a strange domain, that of warehouses and factories where infrequent trains, often nocturnal, roam rusty backtracks. Here’s it’s an evening in Calgary’s...
It seems the further we get from the mountains the less we get to play the Boler Spotting Game. By the time we go as far east as Medicine Hat, seeing a little fibreglass trailer of any make is rare and so an event. That’s our experience anyway and with...
We dodged another bullet with this random pick and had we been one frame to the left, you’d be viewing a less than flattering image of a certain photographer’s feet. Oops, pressed the shutter by mistake! I don’t even want to talk about the frame to the right. Anyway, these...
We’re not sure where it was hiding all this time. Unknowingly misplaced years ago and recently rediscovered, it’s a Then & Now looking down 2nd Street West in Brooks Alberta. The Hotel Newell (or Newell Hotel, depending) is most prominent and sits at a (once) important spot right down by...
The trail up Eagle Hill, in the foothills of Kananaskis, is a pleasant romp in the woods leading to a nice little viewpoint. From there take in surrounding ridges and mountains, the reward coming at a reasonable price. All it takes is some hiking boots, a little time, a little...
by Chris Doering · Published September 17, 2021 · Last modified September 20, 2021
Until recently we didn’t pay much attention to old water towers. Sure, there’s lots out there and we’ve even casually photographed a few, but always preoccupied with other things seemed to look right past the majority. Then it happened, a click moment (thanks Johnnie) and now they’re another obsession here...
The inner-city community of (East) Victoria Park in Calgary, just north of the Stampede Grounds, has literally been wiped off the map. Once a working-class neighbourhood, and within sight of downtown, now there’s empty parking lots with nothing going on. Well, that’s unless there’s an event at the Dome or...
Sitting along the highway in the little rural community of Ryley Alberta, it’s a most curious structure. Could that be an old…railway station? Indeed, or so it used to be, and while still looking the part the trains don’t stop anymore. It’s not even beside the tracks. Last home to...
It’s only taken us about two years to post this. Say it with me…dear Lord, they’re slow! Sometimes there’s so much on the go at BIGDoer.com that a huge backlog builds and so this glacial pace is not all that odd. A week or two before shooting this piece, way...
Time for another silly little post and here it’s a few random photos captured at the Red Deer Airport in Central Alberta. We came to document a vintage transit bus (teaser photo below) but in the end, found the background to our subject so interesting that we kept on shooting...
The vintage railway equipment seen in this post can be found at two separate locations in Medicine Hat Alberta. They’re lowly boxcars (the crazy things that fascinate us) and once a common sight on the rails. Leading obscure workaday lives they hauled less than glamorous loads and numbered in the...
Serenaded by a church service playing out in the building directly behind, our shot is lined up. A little to the left, angle up slightly, review the original image and then check it in the eyepiece. Comes a bit more fiddling, a grid check and if zoned in, and only...
An easy forest hike leads to a picturesque lake and it’s all yours for the taking. While ten clicks long it’s no more than pleasant stroll-in-the-woods, easy as pie and with no hills to speak of. This meandering loop is a great a place to unwind and take in nature....
It’s was a brief architectural design trend starting in the latter half of the 1950s, peaking the next decade then quickly falling out of favour. Often applied to larger institutional or commercial buildings, wave or zigzag roofs could be structural (even if not always so applied) and allowed a large...
School is most definitely out! Here’s a look at Viscount Bennett High (later Viscount Bennett Centre) in Calgary’s Southwest and it’s been closed for many years now. There, right beside a quiet little lane called Crowchild Trail (maybe you’ve heard of it?) and last an adult learning centre, it’s currently...
We’re thinking there’s an interesting story connected to the old car seen in this post. Here’s a rare ’51 Hudson found alongside a disused road deep in the Rockies, something we discovered by chance. We were looking for one thing and found another! Given the remote location, it may not...
It’s always wonderful treat finding Bolers by chance. There you are wandering about doing whatever, your mind on something else, and rounding a corner right there in front of you, out of the blue, it’s a little egg trailer. Serendipity shows up and it’s pulling a little campers. Against the...
We make it mandatory to take a break from the road on long trips and if not done our bodies pay for it big time. This stop ‘n’ stretch finds us in Didsbury Alberta and to getting the blood flowing we randomly walk about. There’s plenty of historic buildings, and...
Tom Campbell Hill (alt: Tom Campbell’s Hill) is located a little northeast of downtown Calgary of which it overlooks. At one time it was pasture and got its name from a billboard erected here by a fellow with that name who was owner of a hat firm in town (chapeaus...
Presenting a little out of the way strip mall dating back over sixty years and a place of your author’s youth. Some friends lived nearby, classmates from Scott and/or Manning schools and what’s seen here once frequented by our teen slacker collective. Here’s a place little changed over time and...
The trailhead to Saskatoon Mountain in the Crowsnest Pass (Alberta) starts right in the town of Coleman. If you’re staying locally there’s no worry of a late start and you can be on the trail in minutes. Heck, we got to sleep in! This lump of dirt and rock is...
Here’s a little service station in a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of town. We’re looking at Elnora Motors and it’s one of a handful of businesses in sleepy Elnora Alberta. They dispense fuel (right on the road), fix and maintain all makes and models and distribute parts. In...
Fortune seekers have been searching out the legendary Lost Lemon Mine for ages. Driven on by dreams of untold riches and fame, it’s said a curse will befall those who make the discovery. Many have tried, none have succeeded (that we know of*) and a few were never heard from...
Back when these buildings were new, the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta was a bustling place and business was brisk. Coal was king and the area home to numerous mines, with much of the working population employed in the industry. Today, it’s all a memory and now tourism helps pay the...
We’ve passed by many of the buildings seen here time and again but never really gave them much thought. Then one day while stuck in traffic and within view of a couple, a seed was planted. What’s the story with those crazy dated rooflines and how many buildings like them...
Hiking up little Missinglink Mountain by the east (or direct) approach is about as easy as it gets. A little (mostly treed) bump in the Kananaskis Foothills it has a lot to offer for minimal effort and surprisingly broad reaching views given its less than lofty aspirations. On topping out...
While randomly browsing a favourite website something catches our eye, a photo showing a group of apartment blocks in Medicine Hat Alberta about sixty years ago. It’s an otherwise unremarkable image of rather utilitarian buildings that strikes us as curious and asking: “I wonder what they look like today?” We’re...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
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