Brant grain elevator

"Alberta Bound", Paul Brandt - makes me want to get in my car - and drive ....

youtu.be/2EtMQeBOguA

Yesterday was a day of huge responsibility! My youngest daughter wanted (i.e. desperately wanted!) to see her very first Snowy Owl. So, off we went, SE of the city. I took her to various areas where Snowy Owls had been seen on 25 January, when I went there with friends and we saw 8 Snowy Owls and 8 Great Horned Owls. Nothing, absolutely nothing! All we managed to find was a flock of Horned Larks and a handful of Ravens. If nothing else, my daughter has now seen just how difficult it usually is to find a Snowy : ) Of course, we were happy to stop and photograph a number of old barns and homesteads during the day, and the magnificent distant Rocky Mountains were almost always in view over the golden stubble fields. We also stopped to look at two old, very similar grain elevators - Herronton and Brant. Recently, I did post a photo of the one at Herronton. Four or five hours later, we called in at the Saskatoon Farm on the way home and drowned our disappointment in a delicious meal. Their food is so good! Passed a few of these small Sunflowers there and, of course, couldn't resist taking a few photos. A most enjoyable day, even if we didn't see a Snowy.

"Brant is located 18 km west and 12 kilometres north of Vulcan. It is located on the CP main line which runs from Aldersyde to Kipp. This elevator was originally a Home Grain elevator, but changed owners to Searle, Federal and finally Alberta Wheat Pool, before being sold to B & J Farms." From vanishingsentinels.blogspot.ca/2006/02/alberta-wheat-pool...

"There were 1,651 elevators in Alberta in 1951, but by 1982 a total of 979 elevators remained. The 1990s spelled the death of the wooden “country” or “primary” elevator. At the end of the 1990s, as the full impact of both of the ending of the Crow Rate in 1995 and further impending rail abandonment was felt, the pace of demolition accelerated at an unprecedented rate. At the end of the 1996-1997 crop year, there were only 327 elevators left. Alberta’s largest cooperative grain companies, the Alberta Wheat Pool (which amalgamated with Manitoba Pool Elevators in 1998 as Agricore) and United Grain Growers, ultimately formed a new corporate entity known as Agricore United in 2001, issuing issued public shares. Demolition of country elevators has continued, and in 2005 there were only 156 wooden elevators of any kind still standing, only a handful of which are used by the grain trade.

The Government of Alberta has recognised the significance of the traditional wood grain elevators, and has designated 12 as Provincial Historic Resources. They are located in the following communities: Andrew, Castor, Leduc, Meeting Creek, Paradise Valley, Radway, Rowley (3 elevators), Scandia and St. Albert (2 elevators)."

www.grainelevatorsalberta.ca/articles/HRM-history.pdf