tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post6224538825930445878..comments2024-03-26T22:06:26.337-04:00Comments on Trackside Treasure: Vestibule View of Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1986Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-53580580439042620752023-01-15T15:26:41.172-05:002023-01-15T15:26:41.172-05:00My pleasure, Bob. I was there at a good time, for ...My pleasure, Bob. I was there at a good time, for sure. Thanks for your additional information and your comment,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-51215880297357332042023-01-15T14:59:25.714-05:002023-01-15T14:59:25.714-05:00Thank you for the write-up and photos. There was s...Thank you for the write-up and photos. There was still alot going on back then in regards to the wooden grain elevators. The government grain terminal structure in Calgary (also eventually owned by Cargill) was demolished in 2011.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-79986144557151019752020-08-18T15:03:29.699-04:002020-08-18T15:03:29.699-04:00My pleasure, C&C - not only to take the photos...My pleasure, C&C - not only to take the photos but to share them!<br />Thanks for your comment,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-70844355194577743692020-08-18T13:40:12.588-04:002020-08-18T13:40:12.588-04:00Elevator overload! Thank you for this wonderful po...Elevator overload! Thank you for this wonderful post.Off the Beaten Path - with Chris & Conniehttps://www.bigdoer.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-7864580994410061372020-08-17T21:45:07.336-04:002020-08-17T21:45:07.336-04:00Thanks, Shane. I know that you know a thing or two...Thanks, Shane. I know that you know a thing or two about elevator photos! I'm glad you enjoyed being along for the ride profiled in that post and I appreciate your comment.<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-19346932150463997912020-08-17T19:05:30.554-04:002020-08-17T19:05:30.554-04:00You captured some great elevator shots Eric. You captured some great elevator shots Eric. Shane Stewarthttp://www.canadianrailroads.ca/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-80152963908848031712020-08-16T08:55:47.189-04:002020-08-16T08:55:47.189-04:00Didn't know how good we had it, Jason.
Just po...Didn't know how good we had it, Jason.<br />Just pointed and kept shooting!<br />Thanks for your comment,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-72433300167282215982020-08-16T01:29:31.354-04:002020-08-16T01:29:31.354-04:00Some great shots (and memories). Thanks for sharin...Some great shots (and memories). Thanks for sharing Eric, some great grain elevator photos from the Canadian!JasonPaulSailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11877757626497333689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-8785211957569825442020-08-08T19:27:17.947-04:002020-08-08T19:27:17.947-04:00Glad to hear your memories and thoughts on this po...Glad to hear your memories and thoughts on this post, Brian.<br /><br />These photos did not make it into my Trains & Grains books. Alberta is pretty much left out, but then again, I didn't run the roads there! <br /><br />I have seen ads for the Saskatoon elevator under its various owners. I didn't photograph the Biggar roundhouse. The fertilizer sheds were labour-intensive. Along with the decline of the wooden elevators, the move to bulk fertilizer handling seemed to be growing around this time. Also the move to much wider, larger and more involved one-pass machinery!<br /><br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-46387504646346720372020-08-08T19:03:04.935-04:002020-08-08T19:03:04.935-04:00Another excellent set of photographs, Eric.
I’m...Another excellent set of photographs, Eric. <br /><br />I’m very familiar with the Saskatchewan half of this post as well. The sign on the highway at Biggar has the slogan ‘New York is big, but this is Biggar’. It may be the most photographed road sign in Saskatchewan. <br /><br />As you noted in the caption for Pioneer Biggar, the elevator companies were undertaking significant capital improvement projects for their wood elevators in the late 1980s. To me, that really shows how nobody foresaw the move to concrete high throughput elevators that really got underway in the mid-1990s. <br /><br />I forget the exact arrangement of CN’s yard at Biggar, but I would be interested to know if you managed to get any pictures of the Biggar roundhouse. It was certainly still standing in the 1980s and 1990s.<br /><br />I didn’t really notice them in the earlier posts, but quite a few of these wood elevators have a shed that is nearby, but separate from the elevator. The pictures of Holden, Bruce, and Asquith show these sheds really well. These sheds have trackside doors at boxcar door height and would also have doors on the ‘street’ side of the building. In the 1980s and earlier these sheds housed bagged fertilizer that would arrive by boxcar and would later be loaded into farmers’ trucks. The bags weighed 25kg and would be handled manually 10 at a time with a company issued two-wheeled hand cart. With all the labour involved, everyone was motivated to adopt bulk fertilizer handling practices. A lot of these sheds disappeared during the ‘90s.<br /><br />From time to time, I used to see CN’s blind mice operating out of Saskatoon. Sometimes they were paired with another four axle locomotive, and operated as a turn to the potash mines around Saskatoon. I did see them hauling mainline freight as well.<br /><br />I’m not sure whether you got to see the government elevator in Saskatoon. It has a strong resemblance to the Alberta Terminals elevator, although I think the Saskatoon elevator was build first. It’s on the westerly part of 11 street west and would not have been visible from VIA’s Saskatoon station. Depending on the route you took, and if you knew where to look, you may have been able to see it on the taxi ride to downtown. In 1986, this elevator was known as the Northern Sales elevator. It later became AgPro, and later still, Viterra. <br /><br /> <br />Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-63444341955914449942020-08-08T07:59:39.239-04:002020-08-08T07:59:39.239-04:00Yes, those two are unique, as is the AWP one with ...Yes, those two are unique, as is the AWP one with a shed on the side at Tofield. I also like those squared-off Paterson ones and of course the latter-day UGG. So much variety. Now, so much...concrete.<br /><br />Just not the same. Wallowing in nostalgia.<br />Thanks for your comment, Steve.<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-69299643353849157372020-08-07T23:12:44.274-04:002020-08-07T23:12:44.274-04:00So many elevators! (heart emoji)
Those elevators ...So many elevators! (heart emoji)<br /><br />Those elevators at Kinley and Asquith are a little odd - almost like an annex with a small cupola instead of an elevator. Maybe the "newest thing" for the Pool!Canadian Train Geekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05525092107895665275noreply@blogger.com