Diane Dammann
Staff Reporter

The party was delayed two years because of COVID, but it was really special to be together, face-to-face, to celebrate the accomplishments of “The little railway that could…”

The Battle River Railway New Generation Co-operative celebrated its 10th anniversary June 23 with a special evening at The Station in Forestburg.

Ken Eshpeter gave a special presentation about the history of this organization.

Eshpeter said, “Welcome to the belated 10th Anniversary celebration of the formation of the Battle River Railway. It is also the 20-year anniversary of the original organization that got this process rolling, the Battle River Producer Car Group.

“I want to tell you a short story but before I do I want to say what a heart-warming sight it is to see all of you here tonight to help us celebrate this milestone.

“This whole Battle River Railway endeavour happened because you people believed in the possibilities.

“You people bought shares in our co-operative which allowed us to eventually purchase the line.”

Eshpeter recounted how the Battle River Producer Group got started.

“It is August of 2002 and the phone rings at our house. It is Dennis Steil and he is quite excited. ‘Ken, I just saw a notice in the Alberta Gazette that CN is going to discontinue rail service on subdivision 43.03, the Alliance sub. We have to do something!’

“That was the shot that was heard around the world or I guess I should say OUR WORLD.”

Eshpeter said news of subdivision closures across the prairies was common, “But we did not think that it would happen here. What were we going to do?

“A significant article had appeared in the Western Producer about a group of farmers in the Eston and Laporte areas of south western Saskatchewan having organized the spotting of a 100-car producer car train to protest the potential closing of their subdivision. A picture of it was splashed all over the front page.”

He says, “Dennis and I got on the phone to touch base with a few local farmers who knew what loading producer cars was all about to see if they might be interested in pursuing the concept on the Alliance sub.

“In short order we had organized a trip to Eston/Laporte to talk with the folk there.

“You might know some of the local farmers. They were Reg Enright, Howard Vincett, Dennis Freadrich, Scott Jackson, John Oberg, and me. Actually the rest is history.

“We operated the Battle River Producer Car group from 2003 to 2010. CN kept wanting to see us gone so they gave us the worst railway service in the history of railroading.

“The piece de resistance was in January of 2005 when CN insisted that we load 50 cars in -35 degree weather and then tell us that they could not move the cars because of mechanical issues caused by the cold weather. The cars sat for over a week.”

Eshpeter said that level of poor service continued until 2009; “When CN suggested that they would not provide ANY SERVICE and that we would have to buy the line.

“Our Board of the Producer Car Group called a general public meeting to discuss options and the decision was made to purchase the line.

“We decided that the Co-operative structure would best suit our needs so we formed the Battle River Railway Co-operative and began selling shares.

“We sold $3.5 million dollars worth of shares, borrowed a bit and took ownership…”

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