Fife Lake Railway shareholders gathered in Coronach, Sask., July 12 to officially open the railroad and celebrate the successes of its first half year.
Company president David Marit said the railway has moved more than 500 cars since it took ownership of the short line from Canadian Pacific Railway in January 2006.
He explained how seven area municipalities pooled their resources to buy the line that runs from Assiniboia to Coronach.
The railway sold eight shares to the seven municipalities and Great Western Railway for $5,000 each and received a $230,000 loan from Saskatchewan Highway’s short-line advisory group.
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Marit, also president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said the railroad is important to rural Saskatchewan.
“If the railroad goes, you lose an asset in your community, plus you take away an alternative for producers to move their product,” he said, noting the only other option would be trucking.
The line services loading facilities at Rockglen and at Pioneer Grain at Coronach, where seven local workers are employed.
“If the railroad moved, they would have been lost,” he said.
Marit said Fife Lake Railway has a board of directors but no employees. It orders the cars, while maintenance is provided by another shareholder, Great Western Railway, which operates a short line in Saskatchewan from Assiniboia to Shaunavon to Vanguard.
