Just a Movin' Along.

UPSTAIRS



DOWNSTAIRS

Slowly - bit by bit - we are seeing some progress. When so many trades are working in the building, and some of them are doing the work "piece work", we have the building open each day for someone. Tomorrow morning the drywall boarders want to come into the building to work. Seeing as tomorrow is Saturday, we are somewhat surprised, especially considering the hours they usually seem to be working. I'm beginning to find out when some people do "piece work" they do enough to keep peace! So this surprises us somewhat - but hey! if someone wants to come work on Saturday we won't stop them. Last week we opened up the building at 7 am Saturday morning for the insulators. They only worked until noon - but they worked! Besides, that gave a big jump start on our weekend plans. It's amazing how much you can get done when your day starts at seven in the morning!

So where are we at you ask? Upstairs in our suite the drywall tapers are busy doing their thing. Downstairs the insulator is finishing up (unless he is done already now today) and the drywall boarders are working away (hopefully) at the "lid" as they call it so we can blow the in the south side of the building. All that means is getting the drywall installed on the ceiling so the blown in insulation in the roof space (lid as I am hearing it called) stays in place. We are not blowing anything up!

Speaking of "blowing up"! No - we are not blowing up the building! But - we do have a publication from 1967 that has some pictures in it from the October 11, 1911 explosion that happened to the Lacombe CP station. By looking at the pictures and some others from the "downtown area" we have made a really interesting discovery! Sorry, no pictures, but we are in the process of contacting the Lacombe Globe for copies of the pictures used in this centennial publication. Our discovery? Read on!

A bit more history of Lacombe stations will help you understand the pieces we are putting together and our discovery! Originally the Lacombe station was a boxcar. Many small towns had these converted rolling stock for their first stations, seing as they were readily available and on quick notice for a rapidly growing rail line. (Rolling stock is the proper terminology for railway cars. We have our sons to thank for their persistant prodding to use the correct name for these things. And the actual wheel assemblies on the rolling stock? Those are "trucks". Thank my boys for that one too! But back to the history!) After the boxcar station, Lacombe had a style of building for their station that resembled a two story house on one end and an attached freight shed beside this two story structure. They called it a Type 2 style station. While it was still in use, the CPR was building the station that many of the townfolk in Lacombe remember - the station we are presently replicating- further south on the trackline. This gabled structure being built didn't sustain any notable damage in the explosion that occured in the Type 2 station still in use. Three men were injured though and one man died from his injuries received on that horrible evening in October. The apparent cause was from photographer's flash powder being transported in a trunk sitting in the freight room.

This building (Type 2) was located straight across the tracks from our present site! Imagine that! We are closer to the first site of the first real building than we realized! How cool to stumble upon this information while reading this centennial booklet. If we can get our hands on some pictures - or some digital reprints of these pictures - we will certainly post them!