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           Southern Rails Co-operative Ltd. was the first short line railroad to begin operating in Saskatchewan back in 1989. The concept of establishing a short line railroad was spurred on by the desire to maintain rail service to communities largely affected by the decision of the class 1 railways. Which was to abandon all smaller branch lines within the province. Mr. Paul Beingessner, a local area producer, writer, and Ministry of Highways short line advisor, was instrumental in the development, implementation, and operations of Southern Rails Co-op. It was his knowledge and work with the Provincial Government that eventually led him along with a group of local area farmers to establish Saskatchewan’s first short line railway. This railway has seen both good and bad days, but with hard work and patience, Southern Rails is thriving whilst holding on to our history.  

           Southern Rails Co-operative Ltd. officially became a company in January of 1989, selling Co-op shares to local area producers for $1 per share. With a minimum purchase of 50 shares, a total of 5450 shares were sold the first year. We were working towards the purchase of two disconnected branch lines that were up for abandonment. They were the Colony Subdivision that stretched between Rockglen and Killdeer and connected with Canadian Pacific Railway; as well as the Avonlea Subdivision that stretched between Avonlea, and Parry and connected with Canadian National Railway. Although we were successful with the acquisition of the rail lines, having disconnected branch lines to operate on, approximately 160km’s apart was going to be a challenge. So in response, Southern Rails, the provincial government, and Brandt Industries set out to develop the first Kenworth Roadrailer truck. This machine could operate on both the highway and the railroad track, and was used for shuttling railcars to and from our destination points. Having this truck would allow operators to travel between the two subdivisions relatively quickly. Unfortunately, this Roadrailer concept was new and took time to develop. So the adapted plan was to begin with a trackmobile that would be shuttled back and forth between the two branch lines on a flatbed truck. 

           The purchase of the track between Avonlea and Parry from Canadian National Railway (CN) on the Avonlea Subdivision was finalized in August of 1989, with the proposed start up date to begin service by mid November 1989. It was in November of 1989 that an agreement was finally reached with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) on the Colony Subdivision, but many roadblocks were encountered with CP in regards to guaranteed tonnage and liability. By January of 1990, product had started moving and Southern Rails had moved approximately 4500 tonnes of grain off the Avonlea Subdivision. However, operations of the Colony Subdivision did not begin until much later in the fall of 1990; which was just in time for the unveiling of the new Roadrailer. Service carried on, and the Avonlea Subdivision was doing very well, but by 1993 the Colony Subdivision was already beginning to struggle. Southern Rails was not able to attract new customers to this line, and it was quickly becoming a money losing venture. We carried on for a few more years with the hopes that the shipping would increase, but ultimately it was decided in January of 1996 that we had no choice but to complete the abandonment process on this line. 

           In 1998 Southern Rails suffered another setback. The Roadrailer we used to operate daily suffered significant damage in a fire. It was at this time we began to consider our options of a new Roadrailer versus locomotive power. Locomotive power had been on our radar for a few years and would be much more efficient on a single branch line. Since the Roadrailer was only capable of pulling a max of 11 loaded rail cars on flat terrain, a locomotive seemed very attractive. However, the logistics of having distant branch lines would mean the purchase of at least 2 locomotives. It was ultimately decided that a Roadrailer best suited our current needs. With expansion in mind, the versatility of a Roadrailer gave us the best opportunity, so a new Western Star Roadrailer was purchased. There was an opportunity to expand to the Outlook Subdivision, as well as performing custom short line services on the Assiniboia, Wood Mountain, Arborfield, and Imperial Subdivisions. In fact, the first test run of 15 empty railcars between Assiniboia and Pangman took place in January of 1999. Southern Rails was then signed to an operational contract with Red Coat Road and Rail to pull our cars to and from the interchange points on our short line. Eventually, CP stopped discussions on expansion to the Outlook Subdivision, and all the other short line Service discussions halted as well. However, it was at this time Southern Rails was able to negotiate with CN and secure a lease on the Avonlea Subdivision track that ran from Avonlea to Moose Jaw. With the acquisition of the new lease with CN, it was decided that the track running from Parry to Truax would be salvaged to help financially maintain operations to Moose Jaw.  

           In 2002, local area producers in both Avonlea and Briercrest purchased the elevators along the track with the intent of loading cars for producers. Avonlea was focused on pulse crops while Briercrest wanted to load all commodities. Securing an agreement on this portion of track from CN was instrumental in the future of Southern Rails. Operations would continue on the Avonlea Subdivision and the Red Coat for several years, but in 2007 Southern Rails and Red Coat opted to part ways. It was also decided that Southern Rails would sell its interest in the Rockglen area to Fife Lake Railway. This left Southern Rails only operating on our owned track between Truax and Avonlea, and the leased track between Avonlea and Moose Jaw from CN. 

           Business became consistent for Southern Rails; moving pulse and cereal crops to Moose Jaw, we had seen a steady increase in car movements from 2013 to 2015 which contributed to the need to replace the old aging Western Star Roadrailer. Locomotive power was not really a discussion at this time as Brandt had developed a new Roadrailer: the Brandt R4. This new truck was noted to have more power, more features, and more versatility to help with track work. The shiny new R4 arrived in the winter of 2014 right around the 25th Anniversary of the Company, and right in time for Southern Rails biggest haulage year on record.  

           2015 was a record movement year for Southern Rails, we moved just over 1200 cars to Moose Jaw this year which meant revenue was higher than ever before. However, maintenance on aging infrastructure, increased operating costs, and a large debt, all played a role in the decline of the operations. The Board of Directors were faced with some difficult decisions. It was at this time Southern Rails underwent a complete restructure of the company. It started with new management, several budget cuts, new partnerships, and the building of relationships; not only with our customers but also with CN. Management brought storage cars online, found new contract work opportunities, and shaved the budget enough to survive short term. With reduced staff, long hours, and some old fashioned hard work, money started to return. It quickly became evident to management that the R4 Roadrailer was not keeping up to its new demands. With storage online, traffic started moving daily, and it was evident more power was needed. The decision was made to finally make the switch to locomotive power, and in February of 2017 the R4 was put up for sale, and the first locomotive arrived. This was an exciting time for Southern Rails, we were climbing out of the hole and we increased our pulling power by 300% making us faster and more efficient than ever before. 

           Everyone close to Southern Rails was excited: the line between Moose Jaw and Avonlea had not seen a locomotive since 1999. Things were going well, storage was strong and pulse/grain cars were down from our peak in 2015 but we were holding steady. Then in May of 2017, Southern Rails caught a lucky break. CN suffered a catastrophic bridge fire just outside of Moose Jaw on their main line between Regina and Moose Jaw. This fire took their line out of service and CN had no way of getting into Moose Jaw to service any of their customers, which included Southern Rails. With several delivery points for CN in Moose Jaw, and all of Southern Rails' newfound storage customers, CN sought out alternate ways of delivery. A deal was struck with CP to reroute all the Moose Jaw traffic through the CP interchange in Moose Jaw, which would now all be handled by Southern Rails. This opportunity was a unique one, an independent shortline working to deliver traffic on behalf of both CN and CP. It required skilled manpower, logistical planning, and patience. We were now servicing not only our customers, but two large grain terminals and all of the CN/CP interchange traffic routed through Moose Jaw. It would take several months for CN to rebuild their bridge, but the customers in Moose Jaw did not see a disruption in service thanks to the hard work and dedication of our team. In fact, even after CN had their bridge back in service and had resumed normal operations into Moose Jaw, they continued to contract Southern Rails to handle all the CN/CP interchange traffic. Which gave Southern Rails the income and stability we needed to sustain operations. With the securing of the CN/CP interchange work, most of our operations were happening in and out of Moose Jaw. Having our main office located in Avonlea made operations more difficult so it was decided after much deliberation that the Southern Rails headquarters would relocate to Moose Jaw. Now operating out of Moose Jaw, Southern Rails has increased our yard and storage capacity and continues to maintain operations from this new location. We continue to service our two loading facilities on our line and have regular storage contracts that keep them busy. 

           This railway has seen both great and bad days, but with hard work and patience, Southern Rails is thriving whilst holding on to our history. We began with 109 members and 12 Board Directors, and grew to 180 members at our peak. Today we currently have 39 members and are governed by 7 Board Directors, efficiently operating on 44 miles of track. We have streamlined our operations, and since the major restructure in 2015 we have managed to increase revenue by 140%, allowing us to afford some significant upgrades to our infrastructure. Through this journey of cracked rails and rotting ties, we have patched ourselves up and kept rolling down the track. Even though there will be many more rough patches that need fixing, we hope to continue this journey with our loyal customers and communities.