Located along the CNR Redditt Subdivision east of the Hoctor Siding near Rennie are a number of bake ovens built and used by workers during construction of the National Transcontinental Railway track around 1907-1908. Other bake ovens at this location, and at the Indigo siding a few miles to the east, are in varying stages of collapse. Similar bake ovens have been found in British Columbia and throughout the western United States near old railway worker camps.
Abandoned bake oven at the CNR Hoctor Siding (November 2017)
Source: George Penner
Abandoned bake oven at the CNR Hoctor Siding (October 2020)
Source: Samantha Silvester
Abandoned bake oven at the CNR Hoctor Siding (October 2020)
Source: Samantha Silvester
Abandoned bake oven at the CNR Hoctor Siding (August 2021)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Location (lat/long): N49.87022, W95.66374
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
“Who’s been workin’ on the railroad?: An examination of the construction, distribution, and ethnic origins of domed rock ovens on railroad-related sites” by Priscilla Wegars, Historical Archaeology, Volume 25, Number 1, 1991, pages 37-65.
“Rock bake ovens: Material culture used to preserve social heritage” by William Stacy Culpepper, University of Montana, 1998.
“The Great Northern rock ovens between Quincy and Trinidad,” Big Bend Railroad History, 28 July 2008.
We thank George Penner, Samantha Silvester, Rose Kuzina, and Morgan Turney for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by George Penner.
Page revised: 3 September 2021
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