Alberta
Banff
Calgary
Edmonton
Heritage
Park
Jasper
New
Hyatt
Regency
Rail
Tours
from
Calgary
Yellowhead
Highway
Adventure
Rails
by Jerry
W. Bird
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Choo
Choo through Calgary's Heritage Park: Canada's largest
historical village
Having
lived in Calgary at the time of Heritage Park's opening, and
sharing its pleasures with my children, guests and clients
on countless occasions, the park was a 'must see' on this
summer's return trip. My company used Heritage Park
as the location for a series of video features, posters
and commercials, produced for Burns Foods, one of the city's
oldest and largest companies. Pat Burns, an Irish immigrant,
was one of the 'Big Four' who put Calgary on the map by
launching the first Stampede. Another Big 4 member was A.E.
Cross of the Calgary Brewery, another client of mine, famous
for its 'horseshoe and buffalo label.' The park proved to be
the ideal setting, with its old fashioned farm kitchens,
cast iron stoves, ornate ovens and large wooden chopping
blocks. The mountain backdrop which frames the park's
western vista added a dramatic flavour to the outdoor
scenes.
This unique slice of
Canadiana overlooks Glenmore Lake (reservoir), and is easy
to access via the C-Train from downtown, plus a 5-minute
shuttle bus ride. Like in most Canadian prairie towns of an
earlier era, the railway is the focal point. An historic
train circles the entire area, and the replica of a vintage
paddle wheeler plies the lake. Horse drawn buggies, wagons
and 1920s style delivery trucks scoot about or trudge along
its main streets and back alleys. The many restored
buildings; city and farm homes, church, schoolhouse, railway
stations, barns, stores, Chinese laundry, police depot,
bank, post office, bakery, newspaper, grain elevator,
Wainwright Hotel, etc. are from various locations in Alberta
and Saskatchewan. Photos
in animated sequence above by Jerry W. Bird
It's a Gas!
One of the exciting changes since my last visit is 'Gasoline
Alley,' featuring an unusual collection of gas pumps, which
recall popular brands and those once familiar, but now long
forgotten. At Heritage Park, the visitor can travel back in
time and discover the treasures of Western Canada's past,
most of it prior to 1914 . The attraction features over 66
acres of lush park land, over 150 historical exhibits,
thousands of artifacts, and lively interpretive
activities.
Calgary
Profile .......
Holy
Cow Calgary!
Calgary's Railway
Renaissance
The most important long term benefit to our magazine's
readers and viewers of this web site, was a visit to the
'railway exhibit,' where we learned about the restoration of
Canadian Pacific Railways passenger service. Thanks to Royal
Canadian
Pacific Tours,
visitors from near and far can travel through the Canadian
Rockies and Kicking Horse Pass from Calgary to Golden; then
south along the Columbia River to Cranbrook; east through
the Crowsnest Pass to Lethbridge and return north through
Vulcan and High River.
Route
Map.
Heritage Park is
open daily Saturday from mid May to Labour Day, then
weekends only through until October 9th.
http://www.heritagepark.ab.ca/
Question:
What about a return to
Historic Street Cars as a year-round tourist attraction and
revenue generator? See our new series Streetcars
& Street Scenes.
It makes street sense.
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