As a young boy growing up, living close to this railroad line that travelled from North Battleford through Hamlin, Prince, Meota, Edam, Mervin, Turtleford, St. Walburg and Paradise Hill, I was intimate with a lifeline that connected all these villages along a stretch of steel rails in north central Saskatchewan.
The line was a historically important means of transportation in the building of Canada and Saskatchewan, but over the past couple of years it is quickly fading out of sight.
Our farm was about three kilometres south of Prince, and as a boy I remember seeing one of the last steam engines going up this railroad line in 1956. Diesel locomotives replaced the steam work horses a short time after.
It wasn't a main line, so walking with my brother on the railroad tracks to school at Prince was a common event when the dirt road that ran parallel became too muddy for walking or riding our bikes on.
The grain elevators along this line were truly the main reason for the railroad lines' existence, an economical way of moving grain to market.
I haven't been in a grain elevator 50 fifty years, but when I was young, it was always fascinating for me to see the truck weighted and to see the grain pouring from the truck onto a grate in the floor. The elevator agent constantly checked the grade of each load dumped, at the same time filling a grain car to move farmers' produce on down the line.
The railroad station at Prince was also a regular stop for our small community, with the train dropping off milk in the old cream cans, picking up repair parts for machinery as well as being a reliable means for shipping mail and goods to and from points around the country. Everyone relied on the train, the school, store, garage, welding shop, farmers and ranchers.
Today I have so many fond memories of this railroad line, I am starting to miss it already.
As a photography enthusiast, I could always come across an interesting photo shoot of glistening steel on this old railroad track in every season, at every locale along it's meandering passage north and south.
I am so greatful I took an abundant number of photos over the past several years and would gladly share them with anyone who is interested. I will be working on a DVD depicting my railroad photos over the past five years. If anyone is interested in having a DVD please contact me by e-mail brianwappel@gmail.com
The End of an Era - The end of a rail line - Good bye old friend.
