Day 4 - August 13, 2013

Regina, SK  to Coleville, SK. 532km

If you are looking for Coleville  on the map, you won't find it, this is way off grid, sort of, I will explain later in this post.

The Best Western I stayed at in the East side of Regina was only 7 months old, just glorious, plus it had a water slide in the pool, which I loved.  Also close to about 12 restaurants, and a large number of big box stores, Best Buy etc..

Next stop was Moose Jaw, SK, which is a major CPR division point and has a refuelling centre for the locomotives plus a very large engine shops.  

Was the CPR Moose Jaw, SK station now the Liquor Store

Inside view of the Liquor Store

City Hall Moose Jaw, SK

During probation it is reported that Al Capone stayed in this motel across the street from the CPR Railway Sta in Moose Jaw.

But just south of town is the Air Force station where the Snowbirds operate out of, I was not able to get a tour as they were short staffed as 12 of the jets were out doing a show somewhere in Canada, but there were 4 on the tarmac, got a shot through the fence.

Snowbird Jet

On display at CFS Moose Jaw

On display CFS Moose Jaw

CP Rail Engine Service Facility Moose Jaw

There was a lot of radio chatter after lunch of a number of East bound CPR freights come out of Swift Current, so decided on a typical prairie background, I need a grain elevator, so Chaplin, SK was it.  Two trains #104 but the next one was a high speed priority container train #100, bother separated by about 10mins, well worth spending the time to get the shots.

Passed through Swift Current and headed north on hwy#32, which is part of the Great Sand Hills of Saskatchewan.  Came across the two locks which service the Great Sand Hills RY, in the town of Pennant.  But more interesting was the 5 car derailment site, just past the town of Abby.  This wreck must have occurred about two weeks ago, one loaded grain hopper and 4 empty oil tank cars, all pushed to the side of the right of way, so the question is will they be removed or left ??

One of the most interesting things to do is take one of the ferries across the Saskatchewan River, now this is not some stream, it sits in a deep valley which is 10km wide, and the river is 600m and has a current of 25km/h.  Plus it floods without much notice, so you don't mess around with this river.

Ferry on the Saskatchewan River near Lemsford, SK

The ferry is called the Lemsford Ferry, and is cable operated, but the ferry can use the river current to move it in half the time of the Diesel engine and the cable.

I should point out that the Sand Hills are in OIL COUNTRY, yes big time drilling and in fact every hotel room in Kindersley, SK, was taken, so I pushed on to the small community of Coleville, and the Coleville Hotel which are rooms above the bar, a lively place for sure.  Simple rooms but clean just don't drink the water it has SO2 gas and stinks intact most of the oil wells are marked "poison gas".

Pump Jack

One says it all ....

Well drilling

The bar and hotel in Coleville, Sk

The bar was where the action was in Coleville, not hard too do this was the only building in town, anyway the room was clean and so was the bathroom, now the towels didn't match but by 11pm it was quite and out the window on the second floor I could see a gas flair burning, my room was above the big black P/U out front.

Plus there was so much happening today and the photos convey this place.

Reilly trying to be a wheat farmer, he will do anything for a photo.