View allAll Photos Tagged Chestermere
I'm rather fond of this fence and have photographed it many times. I like the rural feel it gives to this city with a population of about 25,000. There's a large residential development being built nearby and one day I expect this fence will be gone.
Happy Bench Monday! Looks good big!
Pond Hockey is a specific type of hockey, and there's a big tournament on Chestermere Lake outside of Calgary every December. The tournament was a success, and these are the remnants of the rinks a few weeks after.
Looking west towards the Rocky Mountains on a cold spring morning just as the sun is beginning to rise in Chestermere, Alberta. There is a brief time when the landscape is bathed in glorious pink.
Hard, crunchy snow. -12C / 10F. Beyond the fence are homes along the shoreline of frozen Chestermere Lake. More snow is in the forecast. Springtime in Alberta. Happy Fence Friday!
Nearly every photographer who documents trains has at least one railway line they wish they could have photographed. For me, the list is extensive. Some vanished well before my time, so capturing them was never truly possible. Others, however, were just out of reach. Close enough to dream about, but gone just before I ever had the chance.
A couple such examples that immediately come to mind are two mostly defunct and heavily truncated Canadian National lines: the former Algoma Central (now Watco) through Northern Ontario and the Drumheller Subdivision through the badlands of Alberta. While I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time on the ACR, I can’t say the same for the Drumheller Subdivision. Even during one of my early visits to Alberta, back in the summer of 2009, the rails had already long rusted over. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, the line’s fate had already been sealed. As is so often the case with lines of spectacular scenery and character, low traffic density and high maintenance costs ultimately lead to their demise. The Drumheller Subdivision was no exception to this, as its rails were lifted over the spring and summer of 2014, and another chapter in Alberta’s railway history came to a close.
Yet, this chapter didn’t end without a postscript. Roughly 20 miles of trackage managed to evade abandonment, thanks to an active grain elevator in Lyalta, located at mileage 111, about 20 miles east of CN’s Sarcee Yard in Calgary. Though the scenery pales in comparison to the dramatic stretch just east through Alberta’s badlands, it still offers, at least in a technical sense, the opportunity to capture a train on the final vestiges of the line. Naturally, the mind wanders to what could have been had the rails not been removed…
Back in July 2024, just a few months after moving to Calgary, I had the opportunity to follow a grain train out of Lyalta along those last surviving miles. The experience was bittersweet, and made even more poignant having previously revisited Gary and Roz Miller’s incredible galleries documenting the Drumheller Subdivision’s final days. You can view their work here: pbase.com/gnrmiller/drumheller_subdivision
Here at Chestermere, Alberta (MP 125), the sun is high, the codeline wires are frayed, and the motive power ubiquitous. Yet thanks to the Parrish & Heimbecker elevator in Lyalta, Canadian National train no. G819 is seen rolling along the last remnants of the Drumheller Subdivision. It’s certainly not the hoodoo-covered landscape of Drumheller, or a memorable station name like Dinosaur Junction, but this train still serves as a quiet reminder of what once was. I’m grateful to have documented even a small piece of the subdivision’s lasting story.
CN train G819 is now on the opposite side of Chestermere and is snaking uphill out of town. The other end of the train can be seen in the background.
I almost expect to see covered wagons on this farm between Calgary and Chestermere, Alberta, Canada.
A Chinook Arch is a welcome sight after being in a deep freeze. Warm winds off the leeward (eastern) Rocky Mountains can make the temperature rise 30 degrees in a matter of hours.
This is from my archives; I haven't taken my camera out in ages.
First chase of the season, caught up with this rotating cell near Chestermere, east of Calgary around 6pm.
This is a single frame from a 240 shot sequence for assembling into a timelapse. BUT, I'm having a few issues processing and rendering it into a presentable video. This is lucky because lightning appeared during a random 1/4 second exposure.
Sunrise at Chestermere Lake this morning.
The 3-meter-high metal structure represents a stand of a dozen wheat stalks done by Illarion Gallant, an artist from British Columbia.
About Stormwater & Storm Ponds (from Chestermere's website):
Stormwater is water that flows over land from rainstorms and melting snow. When it rains and snow melts, water flows from our rooftops, driveways, lawns, streets and sidewalks. This water collects dirt, sand, gravel and other pollutants along the way.
The water empties into a storm drain where pipes carry it away to storm ponds. The storm ponds capture and hold this water for a while. This lets the water settle. The sediments and pollutants settle to the bottom of the pond, helping return cleaner water to our rivers and streams.
Our storm ponds are all work and no play – they have an important job to do. They protect the community from flooding and help create cleaner stormwater. Because of changing water levels and poor water quality, they are not for recreation.
The distant Rocky Mountains make a formidable background, as CN 2340 slowly rounds the curve approaching Chestermere.
Breeding Plumage
Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan)
FRGU
# 1 Highway
Just East of Chestermere
East of Calgary
Alberta
DSCN3748
here is a gull that makes us west coasters take notice
even non- gull people would cue in on this bird
:)