Martin Laforge has seen two alfalfa plants move off the Arborfield branch line.
He doesn’t want to see the third leave.
Laforge is president of a rural development corporation near Arborfield and Zenon Park in northeastern Saskatchewan.
He told a recent conference on short-line railways even though the CN branch line in the area was once guaranteed until 2000, it has been slated for abandonment.
In 1970, the 31.2 kilometres of line from Arborfield to Crooked River passed by three alfalfa plants, 10 grain elevators and three stations.
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“In the mid-80s (the area) was the envy of other communities” with its diversified economic base, Laforge said.
But when the future of the rail line became “iffy,” that changed. Two of the alfalfa plants relocated closer to Tisdale, where the rail line was more secure. Elevators closed, leaving two in Arborfield and one in Zenon Park.
In 1996, between 110,000 and 120,000 tonnes of alfalfa products and grain were moved along the line.
“We are a light steel but we have a high-volume flow on it,” Laforge said. “The (development corporation) got really concerned that things were going to go downhill quickly.”
Laforge said Arborfield Dehy Ltd. offered several years ago to pay for upgrades to the line, but CN hasn’t replied. He said loss of the line would mean the loss of jobs, families, tax money and communities.
Provincial statistics show volumes on the line make it a good candidate for a short line. Laforge said that would require the co-operation of everyone. He noted lumber from Zenon Park is trucked to Winnipeg where it is loaded on a train for the United States.
In the opposite corner of the province, Ron Gleim of Chaplin said communities have to get organized “so they can make good informed, economic decisions” about transportation. He said if communities are not stable, family farms are threatened.
“Your community is basically in your hands,” he said. “We need a long-term plan that is acceptable to the people who are going to end up paying for it.”
