Long Creek Railroad received $25,000 in funding as part of the Short Line Railway Improvement Program (SRIP) announced last week. 

Adriaan Lievaart, CEO of Long Creek Railroad said that short line rails are crucial within Saskatchewan.

“Long Creek Railroad was created by us. A small group of individuals who shared the passion of shipping our own grain," said Lievaart.

In the last 12 years, LCR has shipped a variety of crops including, but not limited to grain, germ wheat, durum wheat, and a variety of peas.  

“A lot of loading goes on in Torquay, and Tribune but we have created many opportunities for people to ship and export the commodity of their choice,” said Lievaart. “We’ve also been a great storage facility for comfort cars and energy cars.” 

“It’s just an economic driver basically for the community. Knowing farmers have the opportunity to haul on to it and haul the grain that way,” Darwin Daae, vice-president of Long Creek Railroad and Reeve of the R.M of Cambria. 

When LCR began they owned the track but were required to lease locomotives and hire retired CP employees to come to the southeast and operate the trains.  They now have three full-time employees. Tara Struthers the business development manager as well as Lincoln Wanner, and Marlin Cogswell who are locomotive engineers and track maintenance specialists. 

The funding will go toward a track maintenance fund, explained Leivaart. He added that in 2023 they spent around $110,000 on rails ties and other maintenance on the track. 

“We would like to have oil companies load on it and things like that just so it takes some pressure off of our roads," said Daae. “It's nice to have that infrastructure there for the community." 

Lievarrt said that LCR was happy to receive support from the government and is looking forward to providing more opportunities in the future.  

“We are and will remain a safe, reliable alternative in exporting and importing commodities in Southeast Saskatchewan,” said Lievaart.  

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