On the radar yesterday - Pioneer Village, and the Northern Alberta Railway (NAR) Museum & visitors center. Dawson Creek was a sleepy little town before WWII, but it was at the end of the NAR line. When the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands, the U.S. & Canadian governments quickly decided that a supply road to Alaska was a necessity. Dawson Creek served as the southern starting point, and the rail line was the method of transportation for all of the troops and equipment.
Pioneer Village is a collection of buildings and equipment, dating back to the early 1900's. We spent an hour or so, transporting ourselves back about 100 years into what was a much simpler life in Northern British Columbia.
The General Store was stocked with most of what was available in 1915.
From Pioneer Village, we drove into town, stopping at the old railroad depot. The Northern Alberta Railroad museum is more of a visitors center, with very little information about the early Canadian Railroads. From one of the maps on the wall, I could see that Dawson Creek was the end of steel in 1942, and when the troops and civilians arrived to build the ALCAN Hwy, the small town grew to several thousand people almost overnight. The rail line now extends north to Fort Nelson, where it ends. There has been a lot of talk and some studies over the years, regarding a rail connection between Alaska and Canada. Considering the cost, and terrain, I'm pretty sure that's never going to happen.
Our time in town was finished with a stop at WalMart & Safeway. I started to BBQ a couple of pork tenderloins around 5pm, but an afternoon rain storm put a halt to that effort. We went to plan B, and called it a day. We're still able to get most of the TV channels on our Winegard Traveler satellite antennas, but any farther north, and it's doubtful. This morning we'll be leaving mile O of the Alaska Highway, destination Fort Nelson.
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