A mobile grain-handling company and a group of Saskatchewan communities and investors have officially opened up the province’s 10th shortline railway.
Last Mountain Railway is made up of 108 km of former Canadian National Railway (CN) track between Davidson, about midway between Regina and Saskatoon on Highway 11, and Lumsden, about 25 km northwest of Regina.
The new shortline company will lease 25 km of CN track from Lumsden to Regina with a future option to buy.
Last Mountain Railway’s supporters financed the $5.1 million purchase in part with an interest-free $1.6 million loan from the province.
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“It’s great seeing this important component of our provincial transportation system reach this landmark number and the Government of Saskatchewan is proud to play a role in helping establish Last Mountain Railway,” provincial Infrastructure Minister Jim Reiter said during the official opening Thursday.
“Shortlines help link our export-based economy to worldwide markets and support economic development in rural areas.”
Last Mountain Railway’s partnership includes Regina-based Mobil Grain Ltd.; the Towns of Davidson and Craik; the Villages of Chamberlain and Kenaston; the Rural Municipalities of Sherwood, Arm River, Willner, McCraney and Dundurn; and a number of private investors.
The track had been inactive for several years before the shortline company began operating in mid-summer. It had previously received an $8,000 provincial study grant to explore the viability of a shortline.
“Last Mountain Railway provided a strong case for shortline operation north of Regina,” Francois Hebert, CN’s vice-president of network strategies, said in a provincial release Thursday. “We look forward to a long-term relationship with this new shortline partner.”
“We are very excited about the future potential of this railway,” Last Mountain Railway’s director Sheldon Affleck said. “We also look forward to working with CN and local producers to expand and diversify our rail traffic and services.”
Affleck is also president of Mobil Grain, which he and his brother Lavern founded after exiting their previous business, an identity-preserved pulse processing and sorting facility in Regina.
Mobil Grain’s primary business remains pulses, which it buys from producers, cleans and exports. True to its name, the entire Mobil Grain handling facility is mobile and can be moved to an area in need of a pulse shipping operation.
