Presenting all the Bolers, and other makes of small fibreglass trailers, including our very first Armadillo (a real cutie), that we photographed during the summer of 2017. Rather than post these one at at time as we’ve been mostly doing, which clearly isn’t working given the backlog, we’ll lump them...
Here’s a little hole in the wall diner with seating for perhaps a dozen or two, old school, unpretentious, plain and simple with a blue collar working person’s vibe. It’s truck drivers, cement workers, those that swing a hammer or wield a wrench that frequent the place. No suits and...
It’s a giant pinball (ball). Big and steel and glistening in the sun, it takes this here author back to the days when the game was the only thing on my mind. If I had a quarter, I was at the arcade. Skipped school a lot to partake in my...
Sometimes you plan for this and end up doing that. It’s the unpredictable rhythm of life. Like this…we hoped to hike up to Rawson Lake then take in Rawson/Sarrail Ridge overlooking Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, but a “bear in the area” warning meant that objective was off limits. What to...
We’re in Brant Alberta to take in this prairie skyscraper, taller than anything around, standing in a sleepy little burg down by the tracks and where there were others it’s now the last one. With some good timing, those amazing colours and that “mood” one can only get as the...
There’s quite a contrast here. On one side there’s an ancient grain elevator, all old and weather beaten but still solid and unmoving, standing where built over a century ago. And on the other there’s a modern railway with a singular function, the moving of goods. Watch the freights run...
If you find yourself out near Brooks Alberta, turn south on Highway #36 just west of town and head on down to a little community called Scandia. They’ve got an extra special prairie-life themed open air museum there that you can take in. A vintage grain elevator and old train...
Today we’ll be looking at an old building in the Calgary Neighbourhood of Capitol Hill. It appears to be a house and is in a residential area, and there was a reason behind that, but actually it was a school. Dating back to 1912, it’s what’s known as a Cottage...
A message arrives from pinball technician, and dear friend, Gary Makota. He knows the Team loves documenting pinball culture, even if we don’t do it often enough, and invites us over to a customer’s home, with their permission of course, to take in a problem machine he’ll be working to...
We arrive at the visitor’s centre in Dinosaur Provincial Park and check in. We’re booked to do a little “Fossil Prospecting”, a search for ancient remains in the scenic badlands and we’re giddy like a couple kids Christmas Morning. We’re that close to squealing with delight. We meet our guide,...
Our little group of history nuts has visited the Hanna Alberta Roundhouse many times over the years. In the past it stood there abandoned with an uncertain future and we fully expected when next we returned it’d be gone. Fast forward to today and the building (since late 2013), is...
There’s a most extraordinary place, a hidden gem really, set below the boundless Alberta plains in a scenic valley, near the town of Brooks. We’re speaking of Dinosaur Provincial Park (A Unesco* World Heritage Site – it’s that amazing), down by the mighty Red Deer River. It’s here in the...
How about some bridges? Train bridges that is…it’s been a while. Here’s a pair, not all that far apart, both easily approached from public property, both about a century old, and both belonging to the same railway, although when built each was along a competing line. Take in these impressive...
The Crowsnest Pass, way down south there near the British Columbia border is one of our most favourite places to visit. Can’t get enough of it. History, hiking and the outdoors all rolled into one…it’s pure bliss! And one fine evening we’re wandering the town of Coleman, a community built...
We’re running a tad behind (understatement of the year) in showing off our Boler finds. Heck, we’re still posting ones we photographed in 2016! It’s time to play catch up and for the next while we’ll generally put multiples in each article, instead of one at a time, until that...
The Team revisits a most interesting place, one we’ve been meaning to return to for some time now. Here, punched into the side of a solid mass of limestone at the base of a towering mountain, deep in Kananaskis, a most curious installation. Presenting, the Bunker dating to those crazy...
We can’t help it. We’re crazy in love with small town museums. They are the most wonderful of places, repositories of local history, quaint and full of charm, allowing one to step back in time and connect with what used to be. Simply wander about taking in the exhibits, examine,...
If you’ve cruised around the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta perhaps you’ve seen that huge radio tower sitting atop a rocky promontory right above Island Lake. Yes that one, just prior to reaching the BC border…that’s the place! Well, it’s the goal for this hike. The trail, an access road used...
Here’s one of Calgary’s more unique dwellings. Located in the old and prestigious community of Mount Royal, just south of downtown, it’s known as the Castle House. It’s this strange over the top design, very kitschy and stand out-ish, and for those with eclectic tastes, it something quite drool-worthy. My...
It’s after dark one mid-winter’s evening, no snow and plenty warm. If that’s not a good excuse to get out with the camera and shoot, I don’t what is. So here we are, at a place we’ve been meaning to photograph for some time, Sunalta School. Located in the Calgary...
There’s been a real scarcity of “Then and Now” posts at BIGDoer.com lately. For years they’ve been a staple here, and we did a good number of them, but for the last while our output has slowed to a near trickle. Worry not, we’ve not totally forgotten about the genre....
Exploring History / Hikes And Summits / Old Things / Other Fun
by Chris Doering · Published June 7, 2018 · Last modified July 19, 2021
Our dear loyal readers, Team BIGDoer will be taking a break and this will be a our last post for a while. We’re a bit burned out. But don’t fret it’s a temporary thing and we won’t be gone permanently, just some four or five weeks. We’re taking some “us”...
We’re cruising down Deerfoot Trail, quite often, (and not always jokingly) referred to as Calgary’s answer to the Indianapolis Speedway…and what’s that we see ahead? Up there, same lane, having just merged in, a little Boler Trailer, dead ahead! At a “leisurely” hundred and twenty clicks, ten over the limit,...
We’ve been up to the top of Junction Hill before, but for this outing we mix it up a bit and take a different approach when compared to the previous visit. Instead of tackling the east ridge head on as we did before (and as most people seem to do)...
The adventure here never ends. Even when heading home from some assignment or outing, we like to take it slow and explore. We point ourselves in the general direction of home and we doddle. Taking random back roads as we do it’s almost guaranteed we’ll discover something interesting along the...
At a crossroads just outside the community of Drumheller, the scenic Red Deer River Valley Badlands a backdrop, stands the “Little Church”. Not much bigger than a children’s playhouse, or some shed you might find in your backyard for storage of gardening tools, there’s room inside for six. Six people...
Longview Alberta is the gateway to Kananaskis. A sign as you enter town even says so! Not all that far away, a bit to the west, are the southern reaches of that vast recreational area, a most scenic place and a hiker’s paradise. Lots and lots of trails out there...
Here’s a few out of the way places we documented last fall in the far eastern reaches of Alberta. We’re hanging with a good friend, and cruising the back roads, not really caring what we find since it’s more about the socializing than it is the subject matter. Still, we...
We have this friend, a most ingenious fellow who operates an unusual niche business. His firm puts up decorative lights – you know those elaborate Christmas displays or those “lit-up-like-a-pinball” show homes you see? That just may be his handiwork. But it gets better since he does it in a...
So we’re watching this movie, a little known but most enjoyable flick shot in Calgary called Waydowntown (from 2000). The story is that a corporate drone who on a bet spends a full month living in the city’s extensive Plus 15 Walkway Network and never venturing outside. A dark comedy,...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
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