Baleful Halloween

Spotted near Spruce View, Alberta.

Happy All Saints' Day!

Happy All Saints' Day from Congregational Matthaus Cemetery!

- Michael Truman

Sundial Medicine Wheel

The picture below is what it looks like from above. This is a type two medicine wheel east of Carmangay, Alberta. This picture is off the sign at the bottom of the hill put there by the Government of Alberta. This one has not been dated. The Majorville Medicine Wheel which is about sixty kilometres northeast of here is said to be 4,500 years old.

I made the trek here October 26, 2018 with Chris Doering of www.bigdoer.com (go visit his site). I had been wanting to hangout with Chris for some time to do something like this and it was a great time. I thought Chris knew about this place and if you read his blog you would think Chris has already been to all of the interesting places.

You drive due east of Carmangay on one gravel road then take a turn down south down another gravel  a short distance then drive about three kilometres on this trail across some rolling prairie hills. We did this in my 2012 Kia Rondo which I do not recommend. You can do it but I suggest you go in a truck or SUV because there is better clearance. We had to dodge some large rocks and drive around some cows that were not interested in moving. There were some unpleasant noises that were the result of the car having less clearance than I thought it possessed.

There is actually a bit of a parking lot just before you trek up to the wheel. The wheel itself is on top of a hill, a high point on this part of the prairie where you can see for miles. The Kia is at the bottom.

The Kia gets even further in the distance as you walk up the hill.

The stone pathway to the centre or the wheel.

The hub of the wheel.

When you are there you can clearly see the stone rings on the hill.

It is interesting, not something that shows up well in pictures. It is a destination that I wanted to mark off my list and glad I got to do it.

Two-Tone Bales

For cows with a discerning palate.

- Michael Truman

Bethany Lutheran Church and Cemetery

This little church and cemetery is in the Oilmont area of north-central Montana.  From the front door of the church a distant but alluring view of the Sweet Grass Hills can be seen to the northeast.

The cemetery has been in use since 1918 with burials as recent as 2013.

The church, purchased and moved from another location, was dedicated in 1926.  Services were held here until 1960 when it merged with Saint Luke's Parish in Shelby.  In 1993 the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

- Michael Truman

School?

There was one here. This is near Hazlet, Saskatchewan June 9, 2018.

Right next to the school sign is this building. I thought it might have been a school however it is more than likely a old abandoned residence. It was fenced off though.

Abandoned Alberta

Spotted east of Carmangay, Alberta October, 26, 2018. 

New Sign at the Border

These signs will be showing up at all the border crossings soon. I saw this one recently at the Port of Wild Horse on the Alberta/Montana border.

- Michael Truman

Apparently unicorns exist

Spotted in rural Alberta.

Nothing says Friday like a bale photo

As well as a John Deere tractor and baler.

Raley, Alberta Grain Elevator

Built in 1905 alongside the narrow gauge St. Mary's River Railway (Alberta Railway & Coal Company), it was later upgraded to standard gauge track in 1908 by the owner's the Galt family, based out of Lethbridge. The CPR purchased the railway track from the Galt's in 1912, and operated the track from Stirling, to Cardston as the "Cardston subdivision".

In addition to the Cardston line, there was actually a junction at Raley, with a second line extending south to Kimball. This section was constructed at the same time as the Galt's original push to Cardston, but only lasted a few years before it was abandoned. In the late 1920s, the CPR decided to re-use part of the old railbed and extend it further south to the small settlement of Whiskey Gap, near the International Border. This line was abandoned in 1979, and one of the last trains to travel it was a steam train used in the movie “Days of Heaven”.

Like most prairie branch lines, the decades passed by without much changing. The trains came and went and it was a sleepy line, just like most others that relied on grain. Significant amounts of it moved, with most of it coming from some of the larger towns along the line – Raymond, Magrath and Cardston. Raley was never more than a minor shipping point.

The elevator transitioned into new ownership (Federal Grain) in 1968, and to Alberta Wheat Pool in 1972. Not long after Alberta Wheat pool took ownership, it was evaluated it decided that it wasn't worth renovating and upgrading, so it was closed. It was then sold to an nearby Hutterite Colony, who uses the annex for fertilizer storage. The original elevator is in much rougher shape, but continues to stand proud beside the former railway line (which was removed in the early 2000s). The photos from this trip were taken in the fall of 2017, when the Kenow forest fire was occuring at nearby Waterton Lakes National Park. 

www.facebook.com/JasonPaulSailerPhotographics 

- Jason Paul Sailer

Hodgeville, Saskatchewan Grain Elevators

The Hodgeville, Saskatchewan ex-Saskatchewan Pool single composite grain elevator. Built in 1967 (as noted by the Confederation logo on the cupola), it was used up until the mid 1990s when it was closed and sold to a local farmer, who continues to use it. The train track beside the elevator, was originally CN, though it was sold to CPR in the mid 1980s. Not even two weeks after our visit to this elevator in the spring of 2015, CP tore the tracks out forcing the farmers to haul their product to the Richardson Pioneer high-output elevator just outside of Morse, Saskatchewan alongside the the Trans-Canada Highway.

www.facebook.com/JasonPaulSailerPhotographics 

- Jason Paul Sailer

Steve's blog has moved!

Please visit him at:

www.traingeek.ca/wp/

I really like the new site.

No Justice Here

I spotted this old farmhouse near Justice, Manitoba. There is nothing around it except for the beehives and a collapsed barn.

I was in the area to photograph the remains of the former Justice grain elevator. That was demolished on October 20th.

I took a video of a train passing the remnants of the elevator.

It was a sad day.

- Steve Boyko

Fire Hall

The old Fire Hall in Carmangay, Alberta has been nicely restored.

- Michael Truman

Surprise United Cemetery

This pioneer cemetery is near Richmound, Saskatchewan.

A friend refers to these wood-and-wire fenced graves as "cradles to Heaven."

It is just a little east of the Alberta/Saskatchewan border in a community formerly known as Horsham, now a ghost town.  There was a church at this site but it is now long gone.

This is spring at the country cemetery . . . green, lush and Heaven-bound.

- Michael Truman