This is post 2 in a series. Start at part 1!
I was on a mission to revisit some of Manitoba’s western grain elevators, and fly my drone over some of them. In part 1 I visited several elevators in the morning, and we resume the story after leaving Beulah.
After the downpour at Beulah, I broke out of the thunderstorm near Miniota and carried on south toward my next destination, Reston.
Since I hadn’t spent much time at Birtle or Beulah, I was ahead of schedule. I decided to take a little detour before continuing on to Reston.
Harmsworth
I flew my drone from a grid road and took a few photos of the beautiful old grain elevator at Harmsworth. I didn’t take many, as I didn’t want to linger too long and get behind in my schedule.
I carried on into Virden. I paused there to grab lunch at the A&W, then drove down highway 83 to Pipestone, then west on highway 2 to Reston. If I had planned my route a little better, I could have driven by Cromer to photograph that elevator again.
Reston
The Reston grain elevator appears unchanged from when I visited it in 2014. However, the railway tracks are gone now, as CP abandoned the track through here into Saskatchewan.
I didn’t fly my drone here, as the elevator is in the middle of town.
After photographing the elevator and the nearby CP roundhouse, I drove on to the next grain elevator.
Sinclair
The small town of Sinclair is a nice spot. I remember stopping at the general store back in 2014 and chatting with the owner. Sadly, that store is closed now.
The elevator is still there, fortunately. I put my drone up and took a few photos of it and the abandoned railway roadbed. It was quite windy here, and in fact it was windy for the remainder of the day. My drone kept warning me about high winds, so I was pretty cautious about how long I flew it and how high it flew.
I was really looking forward to the next town…
Tilston
I really like the town of Tilston, Manitoba. It’s not quite a ghost town, as people do live here, but the majority of the town seems to be abandoned and it has some interesting houses and buildings.
I especially love the two Tilston grain elevators. One is clearly a former Manitoba Pool elevator, complete with the big roundel on the side. The other is lettered FIVE ROSES FLOUR, a brand of the original builder, the Lake of the Woods Milling Company.
The wind was still quite strong, but I flew my drone around a bit to record some photos and a little video.
Eventually, it was time to move on.
Napinka
It was very windy at Napinka. I did fly my drone there, but I had to be careful to launch it upwind of the elevator and be aware that it was going to drift downwind somewhat.
I love that former Ogilvie Flour grain elevator. This was the Manitoba Pool “B” elevator until its retirement.
Napinka has a lot of interesting houses and other buildings. I spent a few minutes documenting those, then it was off to Elva.
Melita
I had to pass through Melita on my way to Elva, so I took the opportunity to fuel up my Civic, and take a quick photo of the two elevators there. Melita has an ex Pool and an ex UGG elevator.
Elva
The town of Elva, Manitoba has the oldest grain elevator in the Prairies. The former Lake of the Woods elevator was built sometime in the 1890s and is now the oldest remaining elevator, after the destruction of the Fleming elevator by arson.
Elva is a quiet little town, with several occupied houses, and two elevators. It’s one of my favourite places to visit in Manitoba.
It was still quite windy, so I didn’t fly my drone too high or too far away.
Beyond the Lake of the Woods elevator is a former UGG elevator that is not in good shape. The elevator has had holes in the side of the elevator for years, and these are slowly growing.
It started to rain while I was in Elva, so I landed my drone quickly and took shelter in my car. It rained hard but not for very long. I took a few more photos then continued on. There were plenty of elevators left to see that day.
Onwards
In my next post, I will share the other elevators I saw on that day: Cameron, Coulter, Dalny, Waskada, Goodlands, Deloraine, Holmfield and Cartwright.