The Alberta Historical Resources Foundation has helped the Canadian Northern Historical Society preserve the Big Valley Train Station with a $25,000 grant.
    Through its various programs, Alberta Heritage is supporting 71 projects and have awarded close to $1.3 million. Included in this is the roof project in Big Valley.
    “The pride that Albertans take to preserve our colourful history is a result of the efforts of many individuals, organizations and municipalities,” said Alberta Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk. “By conserving our historic sites and landmark buildings, and documenting the province’s journey through time, we preserve the legacy of those who came before us and help build the cultural capacity of communities across the province.”
    The Canadian Northern Society has restored three CN Railway stations in Meeting Creek, Camrose and Big Valley.
 Director Janine Carroll explained about a year and a half ago the Society was doing some upgrades in the Big Valley Station and the contractor indicated the roof was going to need attention. The Society began fundraising for the project as part of its centennial celebrations last year.
    “Thanks to huge support from local people and organizations, and from the Alberta Prairie Railway, we were able to raise funds needed to match a grant (not quite all, but a fair amount),” she said.
    Last winter however was not kind to the roof and the Society had to get moving on the project.

A grant from Alberta Heritage allowed the roof of the Big Valley train station to be restored.

    “What happened then made us take the project off the back burner and get it done fast. The small repairs we had completed did take care of some minor leaking, but an ice dam that was causing the problems just moved further up the roof and created major leakage,” said Carroll. “We needed to get the full project completed quickly. We hired a company and scheduled a complete re-roofing for as soon as possible.”
    She said they were working with blind faith, hoping the government would approve the grant announced last week.
    The Canadian Northern Railway Station and Roundhouse in Big Valley was built in 1912 and it served the Canadian Northern, the Canadian National and the Central Western Railway. Today it has 22,000 visitors annually and is a stop on the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions.

Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod navigate the Atlas Coal Mine as they participate in The Amazing Race Canada. The episode featuring the valley aired on Monday, July 29.

    The consensus was Drumheller looked amazing, according to staff from the Royal Tyrrell Museum and the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site as they gathered to watch this week’s episode of the Amazing Race Canada.
    The national television show was through Drumheller in May. Many involved in the show waited with bated breath to finally see and talk about the show. In the end, all were impressed with the nearly 40 minutes of national television spotlight on Drumheller.
    “There were some really nice shots of the Badlands. I’d want to go there,” said Andrew Neuman, executive director of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, adding it showed the entire valley well.
    The contestants on the show started this week’s episode line dancing at Ranchman’s in Calgary before heading to the Valley.
    When posed with the choice of lump-by-lump or bone-by-bone, six of the seven teams headed to the Atlas Coal Mine to load a coal car, while one opted to go to the Tyrrell to assemble a dinosaur skeleton.
    There were a number of local faces as the team tripped through Drumheller, including Bill Kowalchuk, who gave one team directions, and Bob Moffatt, who was the train operator at the Atlas Coal Mine. Jay Russell at the Atlas and Dr. Don Henderson, of the Tyrrell, were judges for the challenges.
    The racers were greeted at the end stop by Don Howard at Horsethief Canyon.
    “It’s too bad the Tyrrell wasn’t used more, but there was great coverage of the one team that went there,” said Neuman chuckling that when five opted for the challenge at the Atlas, they were getting a little worried.
    Linda Digby was thrilled to see so many come to the Atlas to shovel coal into a car under the watchful eye of Russell.
    “It was super fun,” said Digby. “Who would choose to load coal over any other option? But they did!”
     To keep the appearance of the crews a secret until the show aired, Digby said new staff were given the day off, and a school group that was visiting had to be corralled so as not to observe or leak any of the production.
    She also laughs that her one regret was the roofing project of the tipple wasn’t complete so the new bright red roof was not yet on the structure.
    “If you are on national TV, you want to look your best!”