Category Archives: history

Excavator out

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Alistair

  This posting follows the earlier ones about: Train wreck,  Wreck, stage one √,  Wreck, Sunday, and Drowned excavator. This morning, a large barge and crane arrived from the Nelson side. By 3:30 pm the excavator was no longer under water, but was … Continue reading →

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Drowned excavator

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Alistair

  The C.P.R. has yet to remove the wrecked flatcar from the bank or the excavator from the Lake, each resulting from the train wreck at Atbara on Friday, March 30 (also Wreck, stage one √ and Wreck, Sunday). I suppose … Continue reading →

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Wreck, Sunday

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Alistair

I was wrong when I guessed that the track was repaired last evening. This morning was spent doing this. I expect that this afternoon will be more interesting if they lift the flat car and excavator. Images of that will … Continue reading →

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Wreck, stage one √

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Alistair

After Saturday’s saga, it now looks as if the track has been restored. Today promises to be interesting as the flat car is removed from the bank and the excavator is removed from the Lake. At 9:30 pm Saturday, work … Continue reading →

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Train wreck

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Alistair

I normally explore nature, but when a train car travels down the bank across from one’s home, I notice it. This is on the C.P.R. line between Nelson and Procter and about a kilometer east of Atbara. This page shows … Continue reading →

Posted in history, scenes | 24 Comments

Pictographic seachange

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Alistair

  Pictographs are at once art and narrative. Pictographs—rock paintings—were created by Aboriginal people over millennia. Alas, many have become obscured by time, suffering fading, erosion, lichen, and sometimes vandalism. There is now often difficulty in discerning many of the shapes depicted. … Continue reading →

Posted in commentary, history | 5 Comments

Local lost language

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Alistair

On Thursday, I gave a talk to the Kootenay History Interest Group. These folk take delight in exploring a wide range of local history: artifacts, buildings, characters. It struck me that historical language might be grist for this mill. Language … Continue reading →

Posted in history | 11 Comments

Raptor rapture

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Alistair

  The expedition began with an inquiry from Michael McMann: would I like to accompany him to the Creston flats to photograph Rough-legged Hawks? I grab any opportunity to head into the field with such a knowledgeable naturalist, so on Friday we crossed Kootenay … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, history, mammals | 4 Comments

Procter to Nelson

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Alistair

When I was a child, the CPR ran a passenger service between Procter and Nelson (and beyond). From early in the century until 1953, the train was pulled by steam engines—thereafter diesel. Although I watched both frequently, I only rode … Continue reading →

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Fraser’s Landing

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Alistair

Dynamite ended the career of Fraser’s Landing in 1947. The landing (or where it used to be) was the first place on an historical tour of Balfour given yesterday by Peter Bartl. He guided a dozen history buffs from the … Continue reading →

Posted in history | 6 Comments