Hydrants and Pipes, Oh My!

The road for the first part of the morning (Provincial Trunk Highway #2) was good (i.e., paved). We made decent time to Elm Creek, Manitoba, where we paused in front of the Elm Creek Fire Department. It is here that the World’s Largest Fire Hydrant is located. There wasn’t any signage on site, but our sources indicate that it was unveiled on Canada Day, 2001.



From Elm Creek we drove a little less than half an hour further along Highway 2 to see the World’s Largest Smoking Pipe in Saint Claude, Manitoba. There is some confusion as to the title; the pipe itself is billed as the World’s Largest, but sources indicate that it is now only the World’s Second Largest. The title is also somewhat misleading as the pipe is not actually smoking and I don’t think it could be used to smoke; it is, however, shaped like the familiar tobacconist’s treasure instead of, say, a plumbing line.



The pipe was constructed in commemoration of early French settlers who came from a region where the main industry was pipe manufacture.