Wooden grain elevators—those icons of Prairie highways and byways—began their decades-long farewell tour in 1980 when a sloped–bin elevator opened in Magrath.

Designed by Edmonton’s Buffalo Engineering, the futuristic-looking elevator in southern Alberta was built from 42 precast concrete modules stacked at a 30-degree angle. Six elevators of its type were built in Alberta, but soon they were obsolete, too, replaced by high-capacity, concrete–and–steel structures.

One of the last Buffalo bin sloped grain elevators still standing remains in use in Magrath, near Lethbridge.

Photo by Steve Boyko