SaskUrbEx Blog

Another Saskatchewan Ghost Town

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:57:18 +0000

There are literally hundreds of towns that no longer exist in this province. Many are nothing more than a name on the map and some aren’t even on the maps anymore. There are very few true ghost towns in Saskatchewan. I define a ghost town as a site that has at least a half dozen buildings remaining but not a single resident. The town featured below doesn’t quite fit into what I would consider a ghost town because there are still a few residents however there are less than 10 people living in this town that was once home to around 200 residents at its peak. The town has become popular and people are coming out to see it due to media attention over the past year and that has also brought pickers and vandals. I have been aware of the town for several years but never took the time to stop by until this fall. We found a very decrepit hotel, a town hall, and several houses. We were watched closely by one resident who has gotten tired of the trouble that the media attention has caused, he finally approached us to ensure we weren’t damaging anything or taking anything. After speaking with him for several minutes and seeing our professional photo gear he decided we were no harm to the place and only warned us to stay out of the buildings. I find it kind of humorous because he is tired of people coming out there however he is responsible for the media attention that the town received in the first place. I am a firm believer that the places that we visit need to be kept anonymous to protect them and that is why we always protect their true identities unless it is a location that is gone all together. Enjoy the nameless ghost town.

Looking down Railway Avenue

The former school

Town hall

Inside the town hall

Rental rates for the hall - however there is no power to the hall and it hasn’t been used in some time.

This town hall has one of the nicer kitchens I have seen in a rural hall

The bar in the hall

The back alley behind the hall with some other abandoned houses near by

The hotel - by the looks of things it won’t be standing all that much longer

Sidewalk leading up to the hotel

Back of the hotel - most of the top floor is without a roof

One side of the hotel - I believe this was the lobby and perhaps a restaurant

The bar is on the other side with collapsed roof

This massive safe was in the hotel - considering the state of the hotel I am surprised the floor can still hold this safe.

Pick Axe Mines

admin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:29:03 +0000

In an old historical mining area in west central Wyoming one can find many old gold mines. Some are just areas of slumped ground where a mine entrance had been filled in. Others were complete complexes of many buildings, and some were Just unmarked concrete shafts that you could easily fall into if you weren’t careful. It’s an area that you definitely will want to tread carefully in.

Below are a few photos of various mines in the area, the most interesting one was sealed up tight and appears to have been done recently however the buildings themselves are an amazing piece of history. There is much to see in the area however time constraints and lack of a better off road vehicle didn’t allow us to see all that we would have liked to see.

A filled in mine shaft

an open concrete mine shaft

It was a long ways down - watch your step around here

Mine cart rails near the head frame building leading towards the mill

Where the carts were dumped into the mill below

Head frame building

Looking down at the mill - Sealed up very well

Arilem walking along the rails

Bunkhouse and head frame

Over all site - Mill is not visible though

Another nearby mine that is very closely watched

Another nearby mine that is being restored / preserved

Power Plant in an Oil Field

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:41:03 +0000

Arilem found a couple exterior photos of an amazing looking power plant in Wyoming. Armed with only a name neither one of us could find it. I searched and searched the topographical maps trying to find it until I stumbled across it while looking for something else all together. It appears to be a very large building which I believe is limestone. I don’t know much about it – I don’t know when it was built or when its use was discontinued. On the one side of it is a switching yard that is still in use.

After many hours of driving we finally arrived. It looked so promising from the exterior however it was very gutted on the inside. It appears to have utilized by a local farmer that uses it for storage. It was still well worth the visit and was very photogenic.

Our first look of the plant - it looked amazing

However it is an empty shell

It is a very nice piece of architecture

Another look inside from the other end

The switching yard is still used

The basement area where the some of the cooling was - there were pits of water and remains of huge pipes

There was once a lot more to this place as there are foundations all around it

Wyoming Atlas D Missile Base

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:55:31 +0000

In September I took a trip to Wyoming for a week. Although not exactly full of epic locations we did find a few places that were worth a look.

In the windy high prairie around Cheyenne lie the remains of several intercontinental ballistic missile bases. Visiting a missile base is something that I always wanted to do. There are a few bases that have been turned into historical sites The Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site for example is one that I plan to visit someday however for now I wanted to see the remains of the one that isn’t a museum.

I had a list of about 4 of them that looked possible however it was mid afternoon before we even made it to the area. We checked out the first one via the back roads and found that it was buried deep inside private property where even the county roads where private and posted with many no trespassing signs. We then headed to the main entrance and saw someone opening the gate to the base. We decided to try the asking for permission approach. As we approached he saw us and he quickly closed the gate behind him and jumped into his SUV and took off which I have to say was strange. We then decided to head to another facility all together. It was quite a bit further than we expected and found it too was fenced off and didn’t exactly look too inviting. We decided to go back to the first one and just risk entering it from the back roads as we were running out of daylight and didn’t have time to look at the other two – it was now or never.

We approached the base and decided if we were confronted to use the ignorant Canadian tourist angle however that wasn’t necessary as we made it in and out unscathed. The base is an Atlas D base that utilized a semi hard facility in which the missile was stored above ground horizontally. There is a 400 ton overhead door that would be opened and the missile would be raised to a vertical position and then fueled to be ready for launch. This facility went on operational alert on September 2, 1960 and was inactivated on March 25, 1965. I found it hard to believe that this impressive facility was only used for such a short time period. It was replaced by titan II facilities that didn’t involve the extra time of lifting the missile before it was ready to launch. All the overhead doors are left open and I wonder if that was done when they were closed or after. I know some of the treaties for removing missiles required the doors to be left open to prove there wasn’t a missile inside however I believe those treaties were long after 1965.

We explored the closest launcher we could get to and then realized that the vehicle I had seen earlier at the gate was parked at one of the other launchers along with another vehicle – I think they were just hunters but I didn’t want to risk it and be seen by them so we only explored the single launcher however all 3 would be identical. The most interesting thing about the launchers in my opinion was the fact they still had the missile cradle/erector in them. From the launcher we checked out the mostly pillaged power plant – almost all the original equipment was long gone. We then moved on to the guidance control / launch facility which was heavily vandalized in the 46 years since it was closed. It still contained many racks in the original computer / server room. The amount of money that must have been spent building this facility is staggering. I hope you enjoy the photos and a look at a location that is uniquely American.

The missile launcher as we made our approach

The launcher with the intact missile cradle

Looking down the blast / exhaust channel

Another view of the missile cradle

Looking at another launcher with the vehicles that I believe belonged to the hunters

The stripped power / heating plant

Looking inside the door of the guidance control / launch facility

The remains of the guidance / launch computer room

Bathrooms in the guidance / launch facility

Outside view of the guidance / launch facility

Looking back at the power plant as we made our exit

After exploring this base we headed to one of the other facilities on our list and it looked very doable as a location but we were tired and the sun was setting and we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us to the city we planned on spending the night. So next time we go we have a potential location to see.

Skiing in Saskatchewan

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:31:49 +0000

Saskatchewan is known as being a flat province. The jokes of seeing your dog run away for three days are well known around here. However much of the province is rolling hills, valleys, and forests. So the idea of skiing in Saskatchewan is not as crazy as some may think. Several smaller ski hills have come and gone over the years and only a few have survived. In August Arilem and I made it out to a ski hill that seems to have just dropped off the map. It clearly hadn’t been used in some time. I skied here a couple times about 15 years ago and I am not sure exactly when it closed, but I haven’t heard much about it in several years and web searches bring up nothing.

Its location makes it a place that I am not comfortable to explore and the local’s generally aren’t very accepting of people like us stopping by to take a look. Our exploration lasted less than half an hour. It’s an interesting place but I doubt I will go back there.

The day lodge - it was never anything too fancy but it did the job.

The ski hill had some kind of partnership with Sunshine Village - which happens to be one of my favourite resorts. Judging by the poster it is from about 1995 when they opened the Goats Eye Mountain.

The lack of vandalism around here intrigues me - I believe someone is keeping a close eye on it.

Display case full of plaques and trophies

A small model of the ski hill

Upstairs in the Day Lodge

Be Aware - Ski with care (no reference to snowboarding gives you an idea to it’s age)

On the filing cabinet in the office area - lots of personal information left laying around in there.

Hospital beds for the ski patrol - it appears the lodge was in the middle of renovations when it shut down.

Exiting the lodge to the hill

The lodge as seen from close to one of the t-bar lifts.

Not to many hills in Saskatchewan had actual chairlifts let alone a quad - I have never seen such a new chairlift abandoned like this.

Day lodge in the back ground and T-bar station in the foreground

Looking up the chairlift from the loading area

Looking up the chairlift from the machinery room.

Inside the machinery room above the loading area on the chairlift.

Looking up the chairlift from the entrance of the machine room

The hill as we were leaving the area