St Malo

Km 1378

Left, off of 217, east onto 218 at Carlowrie. It was pretty much a curve in the road with 3 or 4 houses there.

Time was running short - the car had to be back in the city in a couple of hours - and I still had things to see. Rather than keeping on with the tracks I headed to St Malo.

It was bustling. A busy little place.

The church:








Definitely big!



















The grotto, at least I assume this is it. It was moist.









Good stuff:









That's a spider for lips:








Makes her look all old...


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Arnaud

East off of 200 onto 217

There wasn't a whole lot at Arnaud either. A church that didn't look *that* old and 20 or so houses. Not really a whole bunch of clues about the old railway.

Storefront, perpendicular to the tracks immediately to their east:





(it was attached by some curious diagonal walls to a large house right beside it)

The Blue House:






Kinda neat.

Neither of these things seemed to be from the time of the pembina branch.

(I'd like to know more about these towns, if they were always where they are, and if so, where the buildings all went...)

St Malo is not far, and I'm told there's a big church and a grotto so I'm headed that way up the 218. Need some excitement :p

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Dominion City

Hwy 201 at 200

At first I didn't see much.





There was a museum in a church that appeared to be closed.

"the fish"

A 406 pound sturgeon, caught in 1903. Life sized replica.






And then I saw this and it clicked:







So this line predates the CPR! Oldest railway in western Canada! Interesting.

I'm following it. That's no easy task. Check out how, unlike the CPR and highway 3, the motorways want nothing to do with the railway. They don't twin each other at all. (Yes, this map is calling the Pembina Branch the CPR. Not sure why)






This was about the oldest building I could find in town:







Headed north on 200 and over to the next town.


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Vita 2

Morning update.

Up early for the coffee. Attempted shower but it was a trickle. Had a hot bath instead.

In suite entertainment:













Headed off to Dominion City,


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Vita

Km 1290
Hwy 201

Vita. I like the sounds of that. I think i'll sleep here. Latin cognate, what! what!!

At least that was how I was feeling, map in hand, most of the afternoon. I'd have called ahead if I had a phone. Stupid Sunday.

So I got to Vita in the rain about quarter after nine - dark - found the hotel, and stood outside a lighted open window coughing poignanty and dialing a fax machine that was audible in my distance.

Thinking to acquiesce, I called up to a window ajar on the second floor. The answer I received failed to satisfy though the ceiling therein shone of polished wood and permanence.

The owners, I learned, lived several streets over. On arrival, darkness.

I gave up my dreams of Vital slumber and vowed to carry on... To Dominion City or St. Malo... I couldn't decide. Fatigue sucks.

And then, after lamenting the two Orthodox Ukrainian churches having refused to be photographed on account of darkness, I sallied on, blindly, in pursuit of somewhere to test my flash and turn around. Forget it. Stupid crap-I-think-I-know-about-latin...

And then this!
An unanticipated (figurative) oasis. Shelter! Light!

(I swear the google coordinates for this place are nonsense. Maybe not. If you are at the hotel, do a 180, across the main drag, and it's on your right... . Motel!)

This place was just right.
The cost was about half as much as the melita dive, the heat was low but the owners were GREAT.

Mickey Rourke stayed here...




























































































Or, I mean... Shit. He would have if someone gave him a chance!

The bottom line is it looks like 1962. The proprietors live here. It smells like home cooking in the hallways. The guy was super nice, interested in what I'm doing, and charged a reasonable price.

It was a bit cold in the room, but I have the heat on now. Hell, its a suite, with a fridge and sink and cupboards and microwave!

Seems a bargain given its inherent fung-shway-kitschistan qualities and my recent mal-o-marred experiences, daddy-o...

They asked if I take coffee in the morning, and admitted it was their preference to do so.

If I can wake in time I will.

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Sundown

Km 1261
Hwy 201 westbound

It pretty much *was* sundown, and sure was raining.

In short, there seemed to be more to see, but I didn't see it.




Finally! Ukrainian Orthodox!




All the oldest things I saw in Sundown were from the '40s.


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Menisino

Km 1250
Hwy 201 westbound

A name like California but mostly gone, like Long Beach.

The cemetery had a metal sign and, what looked, from the road, like they might have been war graves. This place has been here awhile.

There's another cali name not so far: Caliento

Why do these placenames feel so Spanish in my mouth? Are they? What's the deal?


This seems to indicate Ukrainian. Why Caliento?

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201 west

Km 1241
Hwy 201 Westbound.

More social policy out of Piney:



(Actually it might have been a protest. There's no attribution, but it is municipal-sign yellow.)

I'm thinking 1954:


Detail:




Brokeback Seafoam <3:


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Piney 2!?

Omg, there's more? Yeah. There's more. No HDR this time. Detail shots.

Less-than-three for junk, hooray! ;)











T.V.s and recordplayers and cardboard, oh my!





Warshing Machine Bits:





This place was shedding. I mean, it was practically, like, evisceration!





6 volts and nowhere to go:





I did not steal any toobs. All I took were pictures. For realz:





Swampy.





Yep, swampy. Squish sqwoosh.





I <3 to reed. Cat tales. (Omg I suck!)

















Liven up with:





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Piney (proper)

Piney is just across the 12 from where 203 dumps onto it, but earlier I'd opted not to go in favour of South Junction.

After doubling back from South Junction I decided - at the last minute - to check it out. After all, it shares its name with the municipality in which it lays nestled. It must be cool.

Holy crap am I glad I did!

It started off a little slow.



















It looked pretty abandoned.

Then I found this, which was cool, though i'm thinking it was not in it's original location:
























(In addition to the improbable swamp local taxpayers would have had to have waded through, there was also a yard full of many faltering outbuildings clad in colours circa 1958 right beside it.)

Across the street I saw this, looking more original.

























And then this one, its neighbour, similarly trimmed:
























On the other side of both of these was a bit of raised land indicative of a railway, void of its track, overgrown.

Further down the road i found this crazy yardsite. There were a dozen small outbuildings, all filled with hordes of crazy stuff, mostly (from what I can tell, and I'm serious) comprised of washing machine parts and vacuum tube-based electronics.

















































This place was a total bog. Most of the buildings looked like they'd sunk up to their windows, leaving tiny elfen doors...

Side A:























Side B:
























(The roofline on that one was literally WAY below my shoulder. Crazy.)

The house, on the other hand, seemed to be sitting on a foundation:

Backside:
























Frontside:
























Yes, yes. I know. I keep shooting so much frickin' HDR stuff. I've seen too much of it too. Like you, i find it annoying super annoying, (unless I shot it :p). But here's the deal: this is what it would look like if I didn't do the 2-shot mashup:

























Cool, I mean i guess... . Maybe I should pull out a real camera and shoot some film!? I brought a shitload of both of those things... I'm so lazy, or something. If i was doing this on film i'd still be at Broomhill... And i'd never have taken that shot... . Anyway, iPhone = Teh Awesome.

Keeping on, then:















































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