KatieKat and I went out with Robert Scott on one of his Abandoned Alberta Tours last week. I had an idea of what to expect because KellyBird had done one of his Heritage Park workshops but now I am just ecstatic about the whole experience. We got the whole scoop on equipment and lots of pro tips from Rob. Here is a link to his Events page if you are interested in taking one of his tours. As usual, this will require a great deal of practice to get good at but I am pretty happy with the results of my first night out.
Okay, if I’m to be honest, I was not happy about the swarms of mosquitoes – holy stingers Batman! After the rain you barely dared open you mouth for fear of them all flying inside you and down you gullet! Okay, enough whinging…
We started out in a little hamlet called Herronton. The post office was opened in 1912 and named after John Herron of the North West Mounted Police. That is from their Facebook page. I haven’t found out much more than that though. It looks like there is still a small community there though as well as some derelict buildings along with this abandoned Alberta Wheat Pool grain elevator which is on the old rail line.
I loved this old sign announcing to the train conductor and passengers the town they were enteringThe abandoned grain elevator, now privately owned now… but the main attraction is across the tracks and behind that tree to the right of the elevator…A Dodge Plymouth Fargo Truck! As best as I could tell this is circa 1939-1947. The long grass and the decaying sides of this hauler made for some lovely photo opsWhat a beauty and hard worker this old girl must have been. I really have no idea about vintage vehicles so whatever I claim here is not necessarily true 🙂The main attraction of our outing was the James Ferguson homestead. This is the barn, a pre cut Sears package right out of the catalogue we were told.Okay, so I should have gotten a better picture of this case… it was, as one of our photo mates claimed, “a kill case”. There was an axe, club and many other creepy things in there but the setting sun was calling, as was our guide so this is all you get! Trust me – it was a more than a little macabre.The cattle chute… okay, I hope my memories of the farm are not failing me badly. I could be making this all up… or it could be true, who knows!The James Ferguson home. I wish I had taken notes but this is what I recall… Mr Ferguson worked in the sky scraper construction industry in New York before immigrating to Canada. He had two wives over the course of his life but both died early. He was a well liked member of his community and was famous for delivering shortbread to all his neighbours at Christmas. I have a picture of that propane stove but it needs work and I am going to get instructions from Rob Scott on doing that – stay tuned.And what we were there for – light painting our abandoned building at night.In the end, we took the back roads home, returning to our hotel, a comfortable bed and sweet sleep!
2 comments
So beautiful! You are inspiring me to get out with my camera more, and to sign up for some classes.
So beautiful! You are inspiring me to get out with my camera more, and to sign up for some classes.
Thank you E! Do have a look at the tours he is offering. I thought they sounded great and would really like to go again too. Maybe this fall.