you may remember in more active times the many parades throughout the Royal Line, county and province we would be in with our stage coach, fire truck (award winning!), and the playhouse floats as part of a few summer seasons of give aways as monies were raised for various children’s charities.
A constant in these parades was an amazing kid who called what the world saw as disabilities his super powers (full transparency, my son, and Wayne & Sherry’s Grandson) who would smile, high five, share hugs and laughs and bubbles with whoever he met. Well this fun loving adventurer is almost an adult, and as he has aged has needed to rely more and more on his wheel chair and needing his world to be more accessible to continue to be the joy spreader he is, as such we have set up a go fund me. There are many ways to support, if you are inclined you can pray, or share or give or all 3.
There’s still time today to take in some of the festivities, and I hear the Farmer Olympics are in progress (as of 4 p.m.), but here are some sights and sounds from the Parade through the early afternoon, enjoy!
An annual reminder, of amazing work being done in the world, to ensure no goes hungry:
I apologize for being late to posting as the roll of Covid-19 continues to impact the communities that make up the Royal Line. Our own household has just emerged from some physical and mental health impacts during this time of c-tine (a term I have coined for our current existence).
We have nothing to add, but simply, our family is praying for all the families impacted by the cases and outbreaks in Duchess, Rosemary, Brooks, and Bassano schools and outlying areas. For those impacted by needing to isolate, or having mild to severe cases, we do pray for speedy recoveries, and healthy households that rebound for our community.
For our kids, we remind you of the simple acts of neighbourliness that can be done – wear a mask in public, stay 6 feet (2 metres) a part, wash your hands, and if you are sick (regardless of illness) stay home until symptoms clear. As with all points of history when we need to overcome adversity, we are stronger together.
Yes, you read that right. As we move forward with revitalizing the hub of community building we are seeking aid from neighbours, and neighbours we have yet to have who have a passion for invention.
Have you ever wondered what a caboose transformed into a candy shoppe would be like? It may be an opportunity for leasing and refurbishment for your venture.
Or perhaps a souvenir shoppe or model train and hobby store? A shack of curiosities? or antiques?
Just imagine them in authentic cabin spacing.
Or perhaps you have a kitchen passion, and would love to do event catering and need a space to operate your business, and host events? Yes there is cabin space for that. And events?
We have had weddings, birthday parties, Kids Christmas and New Years’ fun, family reunions and fund raisers to name but a few…oh and rumours…
CP Rail had pre-fabricated ready to build homes for those who settled the royal line. Our little blue house tells the tale on the longevity of these builds. But it is not the only way you can be a part of community history and creation!
We welcome you to Hamlet Homes 2.0 thanks to Cabin Sales eh! At Countess, Alberta you can purchase your own log cabin kit starting from $10,500.
C’mon down and wander around taking a look at our Hamlet Homes 2.0 that are already stacked (and ready for a retail opportunity).
What’s that? You want to continue the authentic look once your cabin is stacked, or just have a kitchen throwback to a time of great music? We got you covered on that too:
It is great what neighbours and friends of Countess share with us. This intriguing piece of history is literally out of the Royal Line (the train line that connected Bassano to Empress, and went through Countess, Duchess, Rosemary, Gem and Patricia).
Keep the stories and pictures coming via our submission button!
In the Fall of 2005, a few years after my parents had purchased the historic hamlet of Countess, I began seeking out more information around the history. A touch point at then was CPR to gain more information, and some was furnished by the corporate Historian, which follows:
The CPR Caboose getting ready to be moved home to Countess, AB
Before the Great Depression, immigrants and settlers flooded the
Prairies. CPR developed immigration and colonization programs, including
irrigating large portions of southern Alberta, setting up experimental
farms, and building ready-made farms in Alberta and Saskatchewan that
settlers could move right into and start cultivating. CPR also expanded
its hotel and resort chain and its fleet of Pacific Ocean ships. CPR
acquired a fleet of Atlantic Ocean steamships and ferries on both
coasts. CPR doubled its track mileage and double-tracked most of its
western main line. CPR was also locked in deadly competition on the
Prairies with Canada’s two other transcontinental railways – the
Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific – railways that eventually
went bankrupt and were rolled into the huge Canadian National Railways
supported by the public purse until the early 1990s.
CPR embarked on its major mainline double-tracking program on the
Prairies between 1911 and 1914. This is where Countess and its
importance comes into play.
Most double-tracking took place as track twinning, except through
Countess. CPR opted for a “kinder, gentler” route with better grades
west of Swift Current, Sask. The second mainline single track that
served as a double track in western Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta
took a bit of a circle route. It branched off the original mainline
just west of Swift Current at Java, Sask., ran up to Westerham, Sask.,
skirting the Red Deer River into Alberta, at Empress, and back down to
the original mainline just east of Bassano, through Countess. CPR
twinned the first four-and-a-half miles of mainline east of Swift
Current. And then the second track diverged northwest at Java toward
Empress, Alta. The first 33 miles out of Java went into operation on
November 2, 1911. The small gap between Mile 33 and Cabri saw traffic on
June 25, 1912. The section between Cabri and Westerham, Sask., went into
operation on September 29, 1913. In the meantime, construction crews were
busy building northeast off of the CPR mainline at Bassano, Alta.,
through the “regal” communities of Countess, Duchess, Princess and
Majestic toward Empress and the Alta./Sask. border. This whole 126-mile
section was completed before World War I and put into operation, from
west of Countess right through to Empress and eight miles beyond across
the provincial border, on June 12, 1914. There was only a missing
16-mile link left to hook it up at Westerham with the secondary main
line out of Swift Current and Java. This went into operation on November
23, 1914.
Empress was the divisional point on this line. East of Empress to Java
(Swift Current) was called the Empress Subdivision. And west of Empress
to Bassano, through Countess, was called the Bassano Subdivision.
But the world changed after World War II. Passenger and small break-bulk
freight traffic went over the road. CPR dieselised its operations in the
1950s to cut operating costs. And CPR’s secondary main line through
Countess toward Empress and the Saskatchewan border became less vital.
CPR abandoned from Leader, Sask., to Empress, Alta., in 1990. And, in
December 1997, CPR closed down the 115.4-mile Empress to Bassano line
through Countess. Only a small stub of this former secondary main line
in Alberta exists today. It juts northeast from near Bassano pointing
toward the former hamlet of Countess and serves as a storage siding.
–Corporate Historian
It was 1957, when a young man named Jim and 3 friends were searching for work, and had bused down from Edmonton to Calgary. In 1957, Jim had just fled the revolution in Hungary the year before and come to Canada at just 20 years old.
Luck struck on April 15, 29157 their first day at the unemployment office, when a gent named Mr. Curb came looking for 2 helpers, one of the 4 replied all of them or none as they wanted to stay together, to which this man took them up on the offer of the 4 workers. Mr. Curb, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints (Mormon colloquially) was one of 3 millionaires that own Vee Bar Vee Ranch. Jim would spend 6 months working the ranch. Mr. Curb on the way in would radio ahead to have chicken prepared for the new workers, which filled their bellies now that work had filled their hope. It is also noted the workers would get to know Mr. Curb’s son, Lloyd.
Within a few months of Jim starting his work, the millionaires would sell the 78,000 acre ranch. The 78,000 acres was split in half-half ranch, half farm land for wheat, barley, and corn. The new buyers were Hutterites who would come to see how to run the operation, learning the big diesel combines which Jim describes as massive closed cabin tractors with wheels larger than a man. Most notably draft dodgers from the USA would be hired on to run the combines, and the Hutterites took time to explain the farming practice where the outer ring of wheat would form a protective crust for the interior grows from wind and rain. Jim most notably remembers the kindness and generosity of the Hutterites in running the operation.
Thank you to Andrea Szakos for sharing her Dad, Jim’s memories with us (and hope for many more to be shared), and for the following update:
Medicine Hat News Newspaper Archives
January 26, 1959 Page 10
V Bar V Ranch Sold The sale of one of Alberta’s largest cattle ranches has been reported in Calgary. The ranch is the V Bar V holdings at Ward-low, north of Medicine Hat. Although the transaction has not been confirmed it is understood the ranch was sold to Los Angeles interests for a reported $1,400,000 by Cliff Walker and his partner Sam Hanen, both of Calgary. Hr. Hanen is the owner of the Betty Shoppe’s in Alberta. The V Bar V is one of the largest of the early ranches in southeast Alberta and figured prominently in the news two years ago, when its sale to Alberta Hutterites was forbidden by the provincial government.
Have you ever wondered what a caboose transformed into a candy shoppe would be like? It may be an opportunity for leasing and refurbishment for your venture.
Countess Chronicle 