Saskatchewan Pictures

On Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006... I did my first ever excursion into the undiscovered province, Saskatchewan. Here are some of the pictures I took.

After checking out a rumor I had heard that the UGG elevator at Altario (located about 45 minutes east of Consort on the ex- CP line) had been torn down, but it is still standing, I decided to continue on, and came across Fussilier, about 15 minutes east of the Alberta/Sask border. There is not much of anything left there now, but appears the townsite is being used as a gravel and equipment storage area. This was the first real Saskatchewan Pool elevator I have ever seen, and was saddened to see this abandoned elevator in it's present state.




Next, I headed south to Hoosier, which was next to the old CN line which ran from Scapa, Alberta to Biggar, Sask. However, with no elevator there.. I continued south to Highway 7, and found the Meridian Grain elevator in Marengo, which is on the CN main line.


Heading east, I came across to Flaxcombe... a ex-Sask Pool elevator, which is now privately owned.



Finally, I went east to Kindersley, and found these two elevators:


A Sask Pool HTP elevator located on the CN main line just south of town...


and finally... a Pioneer HTP, located just west of town.

There was a lot of fog in the area when I took these pics... so that explains why they look a bit on the misty side

Bulwark, Alberta

Bulwark was located on a CP rail line which ran NW of Coronation to town called Birkenshaw, located SE of Alliance. The line was planned to go as far as Sedgewick, but it never was completed, as the tracks had serious erosion problems along the Battle River. The elevators (National, Alberta Wheat Pool, UGG, Pioneer and one other) were closed in the 1960's but two were saved and moved.


This is what is left at Bulwark, the two seat outhouse, and what looks like the elevator office. The trackbed, which is located to the right of the office is now barely visible, as it has been plowed under over the years.


This elevator is located to the SW of the original site, and is now being used as a seed cleaning plant.




The Pioneer elevator was moved to a farm 4 miles south, and is owned by Lunalta Limousin. You can still see the Pioneer Grain Co. Limited in the lower picture on the elevator.

Elevator East of Red Deer, Alberta

This elevator is located about 3 miles east of Red Deer on Township Road 38-4. It was torn down board by board in 1962, and rebuilt on this farm between 1963-1964.

New elevator south west of Bentley

I found this elevator today, after discovering it on another website. It's located SW of Bentley, Alberta on Township Road 42-0 on highway 20.

United Grain Growers (UGG)

The United Grain Growers company was formed from amalgamation of the Grain Growers' Grain Company and the Alberta Farmers' Co-operative Elevator Company.

The company started operation in Sepetember 1, 1917. The company owned or controlled 146 elevators in Alberta.

UGG amalgamated with Agricore (Formerly Alberta Wheat Pool and Manitoba Wheat Pool) November 1, 2001 to form Agricore-United. The last of the wheat pools is now gone to the pages of history.

UGG had approx. 354 in Alberta. As of 2006, there are only 7 known abandoned UGG elevators left standing in Alberta, and 6 are privately owned.

ALTARIO:


Altario is located in East Central Alberta, near the Saskatchewan Border, and used to be on the CPR line. It was built in 1966, and closed between 1996-1997.

BENTLEY:


Bentley is located west of Lacombe, and is on the CPR line from between Lacombe and Blackfalds to Homglen, NE of Rimbey. It was built in 1918 as an Alberta Pacific. It was closed in 1999.

FALHER:



Falher is located in the Peace River Country of North-West Alberta. I don't have any info on when this elevator was built, but I think it was closed in 1996.

FORT MACLEOD:


Fort Macleod is located in Southern Alberta. I have no info on this elevators history, but may have been closed in 2001.

HUSSAR:


Hussar had 2 UGG elevators... The orange one (obviously a Pioneer before UGG took over) was destroyed in 2004.


The other UGG was built in 1981 after its elevator was destroyed in 1980, and was partially rebuilt in 1981, but burned again. It is the only elevator left in Hussar.

KAVANAGH:


Kavanagh is located south of Leduc, but the elevator was moved to a farm west of Leduc. It was closed between 1971-1981.

KILLAM:



KIlliam is located east of Camrose on the CPR line. It has two UGG elevators that are still standing.

KINUSO:




Kinuso is located on Highway #2 west of Slave Lake, on the McKenzie and Northern Railway Line. It is the only UGG elevator with the original UGG logo left in Alberta. It was built in 1951 by Midland Pacific, and closed in 1973.

KUUSAMO:


Kuusamo is WSW of Sylvan Lake, and is on the CN line from North of Red Deer to Rocky Mountain House. It was closed in 2002, and is privately owned.

RYCROFT:


Rycroft is on the Savage Alberta Railway, which was ealier owned by the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) and CN. This elevator is now owned by the Peace River Seed Co-op, and was originally closed in 2000.

SMOKY LAKE:


Smoky Lake's UGG is now located at the Smoky Lake Hutterite Colony, which is located about 5 miles South of Smoky Lake. The town was on the CN line from Kernesky to Grand Center in NE Alberta.

TROCHU:



Trochu is located in Central Alberta, and is on the CN (formerly Grand Trunk Pacific) Line which runs from Camrose to Calgary. This elevator was closed in 2002, and may be privately owned.

VALENTINE:



Valentine's elevator was a interesting one to find. The elevator was originally located between Kiron and Kelsey on the Camrose - Alliance CN rail line. The town of Valentine was located about 2.5 miles south of the tracks , and has all but disappered. The elevator was moved to a farm NW of Ryley in the mid 1970's.

WETASKIWIN:


Wetaskiwin is located south of Leduc on the main CPR line between Calgary and Edmonton. I have no information on this elevator's history, except it was closed in 2001.

PIONEER

The Pioneer Grain Company was established in 1913 by James Richardson & Sons, as a wholly owned subsidiary to operate the company's grain elevators.

Pioneer acquired the Sunny Belt Grain & Elevator Co in 1913, and in 1953 purchased the Independent Grain Co. Pioneer is still operating in 2006 in Alberta.

Pioneer had at least 135 known in Alberta, 10 operating left in 2006 (5 wood, 5 HTP)

BLACKIE:


Blackie is located on the main CP line which now runs from Aldersyde to Lethbridge. This elevator is still operated by Pioneer.

NANTON:


Nanton was located on the CP line which ran south of Aldersyde to Fort Macleod. It's two elevators, which were an Alberta Wheat Pool and a UGG. They are now being saved by Nanton for a museum.

OLDS:


Olds is located south of Red Deer on the main CP line between Calgary and Edmonton. This elevator is a HTP (High Throughput) elevator located south of Olds.

OYEN:


Oyen, located on the CN main line about 20 miles west of the Saskatchewan border in east central Alberta, has one Pioneer elevator left. Another HTP Pioneer is located about 2 miles east of Oyen.

STROME:


Strome, located on the CP line east of Camrose, was closed December 31, 2005.

SUNNYBROOK:



Sunnybrook is located at the end of the CP line which runs west of Leduc.
It was built in 1936, and is still in operation today.

VULCAN



Vulcan's Pioneer is the last of the famous "Nine in a line" elevators. It was originally built in 1917, and is still in operation (2005).

CARGILL

Cargill entered into grain elevators in 1974 when the company purchased National Grain.

Cargill had approx. 29 known elevators in Alberta, has 9 presently standing in 2006 (1 HTP, 2 operated by Cargill, 2 abandoned, and 4 owned by private companies)

BARNWELL:


Barnwell is located west of Taber in southern Alberta, and this elevator is now privately owned.

CHANCELLOR:


Chancellor is on an abandoned stretch of CP track that used to run from Bassano to Irricana Alberta, but now runs from Standard to Bassano. The elevator was closed in 1999, and has been abandoned.

ERVICK:


Ervick is located on the CP line west of Camrose, and the two elevators are owned by Cargill Feeds

FAHLER:


Fahler's Cargill is located east of the town on the McKenzie and Northern Railway (formerly Northern Alberta Railways and Canadian National Railways). As far as I know, it is privately owned.

MARWAYNE:




Marwayne is located on the CP line NE of Lloydminister, Alberta. as of 2005, these two Cargils are now privately owned.

RYCROFT:


Rycroft is on the Savage Alberta Railway, which was ealier owned by the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) and CN. This elevator is now owned by the Peace River Seed Co-op, and was originally closed in 2000.

SEXSMITH:


Sexsmith is located between Grand Prairie and Rycroff on the Savage Alberta Railway, and this elevator is presently abandoned.