Just inside Saskatchewan and we’re talking no more than a hair’s-width from the Alberta border, there’s a curious structure. You can’t miss it, standing sentinel just outside the little community of Alsask along the highway between Calgary and Saskatoon. Just a little to the north and it’s that big giant...
You are here: standing at the Corral 4 Drive-in Theatre in Calgary and looking down the entryway. Screens one, two, three or four? You pick’em. Imagine this same view but many decades ago and on a summer Saturday night. The cars, the chaos, the anticipation, the noise, the smell of...
Welcome to the lonely Laing House, constructed over a century ago and empty for about half that time. In a state of advanced decay, it stands alone and on the edge of a little coulee far from any road or access point. It’s a wonderfully picturesque setting – a delightful...
We like a good round number and this Then & Now spans one full century. Not ninety one, not ninety seven, but one hundred years exactly separates the two images seen. The original was shot in spring and ours on the morning of the very last day of 2023, but...
There’s not much going on in downtown Edberg Alberta these days, but it wasn’t always the case. If one were stand where we did, but many, many decades removed, what a different scene it’d be. Let’s go back to when the town was founded over a century ago, or during...
This in-town walk along the Canmore Pathways system offers lots of variety and enjoyment. Along the way, there’s parks, green spaces, mountain views, riverside fun, a boardwalk to play on and lots of nature. For those big into history, parts of an old railway line, now incorporated into the trail,...
In this post we’re in the shadow of downtown Calgary and at a location appearing in an old photo sent to the Team many years ago. We’re alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway’s east/west mainline and back in 2014 duplicated that shot from 1977. It’s presented below and what a difference...
Their compact size means a Boler or any similar type trailer is generally easy to store. Any old spot that can fit a car will do in a pinch. For those with houses, driveways are the obvious choice, but often back alleys are where you find them. Just sock them...
The town of Morrissey British Columbia only existed for a short time in the early 1900s, had a brief but sad reprieve of sorts less than a decade later, and then was gone. It’s now relegated to history. Nature has taken back the townsite and there’s scant evidence to be...
This hike takes place in the West Bragg Creek trail network, convenient to Calgary and accessible all year round. They’re an easy choice for the short days of winter and we put the trails here to use to keep in shape awaiting spring and more ambitious adventurers further afield. This...
Close to seventy years separates the images used in this BIGDoer.com Then & Now. The theme, one of our favourites and by the numbers equally a hit with our readers, is Calgary Transit or public transit in general. The location is the historic century plus old MacDonald Bridge (or MacDonald...
It’s a random backroad find, unexpected but hardly unwelcome. It’s a former one room school in Mayook BC (a bit south of Cranbrook) and it’s gorgeous. The building came here from somewhere else in the late 1910s although the exact original location make no mention. “…Mayook School was moved from...
A hundred and twenty years, approximately, separates the two images used in this Then & Now. In the original we’re looking at the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Illecillewaet Bridge in Revelstoke British Columbia and in the second the Mark Kingsbury Memorial Bridge occupies that same spot today. The latter is for...
Come join us for a casual after hours tour of historic Fort Macleod Alberta. Evening or morning is a great time to explore places like this and not just for the soft, silky light that’s so pleasing. The streets are usually quieter and the views less obstructed. This is not...
A few factories in Canada were involved in Boler production at various times and making sense of who built what and when is sometimes a tall order. Depending on the year and/or model, they could come from plants in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta or BC. There might have been others too....
Welcome to the Camrest Motel, Camrose Alberta and please enjoy your stay. It’s a budget friendly kind of place, down by the tracks, in the old part of town and a little run down. You know, it’s the digs you might find us staying at when on the road and...
Presenting two photos of the same building, but captured many, many years apart. The location is Calgary’s historic Inglewood community and our attention is focused on the the Victory Block (former Haskins Block) built in 1908-1910. While there’s been change from era to era, it’s minimal and the building appears...
The location is British Columbia’s scenic Fraser Canyon and our subject, the historic Alexandra Bridge. It spans the turbulent river at a point where it narrows and when standing there it’s a long drop down to the water below. The deck is of grated metal and when crossing it almost...
When money’s tight necessity spawns creative solutions. No one was more dirt poor than the lowly coal miner of old and when something was needed, they upcycled, recycled or salvaged something and made due. Or you did without and those are the only options. Here’s a simple and straight to...
This time we’re in the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta and our subject for this comparison, albeit off in the distance, is the former Coleman Miners’ Hospital. It and the hill in back are the only things visible in both images to tie the two eras together. A hundred years sperate...
Today, we’re looking at an abandoned section of the CPR’s Southern Mainline and this post should be fascinating to anyone into railway archaeology. So us and a couple other folks! Our subject is a stretch of line out in Southeastern BC, bypassed due to the building of the Libby Dam...
The location is Vancouver Island in British Columbia and specifically MacMillan Provincial Park. It’s a little east of Port Alberni and this spot home to an amazing stand of massive trees many centuries old. These are the giants of Cathedral Grove and we’re happy to show you around. Today’s subject...
Let’s face it, winter in this city isn’t always pretty and with each chinook things turn brown and dust covered. A new dump of snow freshens up the scene, but soon after those warm winds melt it all away, and it’s depressing and gloomy again. That’s how it plays out...
Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass has a storied history of coal mining and well into the 1950s, it drove the economy here. Back then everyone and everything had a connection to the industry. Period and end of story. People came from all over the world to work underground in the valley and...
The impressive structure shown here is found in a pretty-as-a-postcard mountain community out in British Columbia. The place is Revelstoke, our subject dates back to 1913 and built in the the Neoclassical style popular of the era, around the world, but not something you’d expect to find out this way....
It happened on a gloomy day, overcast and blustery, but challenging conditions be damned. Adventure calls and even biting, wind driven sleet unable to put a damper on the fun. Appearances suggest there’s little to see out this way, but sometimes things are hidden and need searching out. Our subject,...
While only thirty seven years separate the photos in this Then & Now, the change has been dramatic. Our subjects today are the grain elevators of Turin Alberta and if this comparison demonstrates anything, is that nothing is forever. That’s even out in rural parts where time seemingly stands still....
Something curious can be seen from the Kootenay Lake (BC) Ferry, there on the east shore and a bit south from the of line of travel. Down at lake level. It appears something industrial once occupied the site, but clearly long ago. There’s not much left but it looks real...
We’re a bit unsure about this comparison. Presenting a Schrodinger’s Then & Now, if you will, that may or may not show the same location roughly a century apart. The old photo is of the Silver Creek Coal Mine in Skunk Hollow Alberta, that much is known, but there’s contradictory...
It happened last summer and memories of this amazing adventure filled journey remain fresh. Imagine a week of epic fun, times a million, spent camping out and playing in the Shadow of Mount Begbie in Revelstoke British Columbia. We hiked, we explored, we searched out history, abandoned things too, we...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
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Ghost Railways: Fort Macleod Alberta
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Berte George’s William’s Grocery Lethbridge
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Union Bay (Vancouver Island) Coal Wharf
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
1 Day: Denman & Hornby Islands (BC)
Wilfrid Lambo:
Crossley Slides: A Corner in Erlton
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Ioco Port Moody BC (Ghost Town)
Anonymous:
Historic Fort Macleod After Hours
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Ghosts of the Crowsnest Subdivision
Franco Media:
Moose Jaw SK Train Station (~90 Yrs Apart)
Anonymous:
Kart World or Kart Gardens? (2014)
Ross Hamilton:
Prairie Sentinels: Cadillac Sask
Anonymous:
Dominion Bridge Calgary (Ramsay) ca1960-2014
John Kinnear:
World of F.E.A.R Figure-8 (Abandoned)
Dale:
Forgotten Coal Town Cemetery
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Royston Wrecks (Vancouver Island BC)
Dale:
Shandro Historic Village (Closed)
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