The Last Mountain Railway is an 85 mile (137 km) railway running between Regina and Davidson, Saskatchewan. This is a former CN line that was acquired in 2009. Locomotives are shared between the LMR and its sister shortline, Big Sky Rail. Both companies were owned by MobilGrain, which is now part of AGT Foods.
In June 2024 I traveled along almost all of the Last Mountain Railway, from Lumsden north to Davidson. Here are my photos and observations.
Lumsden
The picturesque town of Lumsden, SK has a lot to offer, but not to the railway enthusiast.
Bethune
There’s a railside industry in Bethune. I don’t know what they do but there are a lot of tanks involved.
Two maintenance of way vehicles were in Bethune when I visited, lettered for the Last Mountain Railway.
The one on the left is a Fairmont Tamper MK IV (TP2450)
Aylesbury
The Last Mountain Railway’s headquarters are in Aylesbury, SK. They have a small shop here and I found two of their locomotives here – #602 and an unnumbered locomotive.
The LMR and Big Sky Railway share a fleet of 13 SD40-2 locomotives of various types and origins, and 7 ex Modesto & Empire Traction 70-ton locomotives like these.
The M&ET locomotives have not been repainted and still bear their previous numbers (601-605 and 607-608). These small switcher locomotives were built in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and were acquired by LMR in 2011.
There are a couple of storage tracks in Aylesbury and they were filled with MobilGrain-owned grain hoppers, ex CN and CP “Trudeau” hoppers lettered for MGLX. MobilGrain purchased 663 of these hoppers from the Saskatchewan government when they were liquidating the provincially-owned grain car fleet in 2017. I’ve seen these cars around Winnipeg on various trains.
Craik
The town of Craik, Saskatchewan has a lot of interesting architecture – a city hall built in 1913, for example, and a current and a former church – but to me the two most interesting parts were the former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool grain elevator and locomotive #608.
The elevator used to bear the Pool logo, but sometime in the last six years it has received a new roof, new paint and other repairs and refurbishment. It’s nice to see that Lehman Farms is continuing to use it.
I’m not sure if the former M&ET #608 is still mobile. Comments from other railfans suggest this engine has not moved from its location for a while.
Girvin
The small town of Girvin doesn’t have the same population or architecture as Craik, but it did have a pair of locomotives!
MobilGrain #3143 was originally CN 5214, an SD40. It was sold to the Kansas City Southern and rebuilt as an SD40-3. I like the bold MobilGrain look.
The other locomotive is obviously an ex CP SD40-2, #5954. I made a couple of photos of CP 5954, in Winnipeg in March 2013 and in Calgary in June 2018.
Girvin doesn’t have a grain elevator in town any more (it used to have three) but there is a grain elevator annex across the highway in a field.
Davidson
The Last Mountain Railway ends at Davidson, where they interchange with CN on their Craik subdivision. They do have running rights into Saskatoon, but I don’t know if they haul cars all the way there or leave them in Davidson.
That was my brief introduction to the Last Mountain Railway. I hope to see them again!
Very interesting coverage of a short line I had never heard of. I love those GE 70 tonners, don’t see many in eastern Canada. Your photos are great I particularly like the shot of the Davidson siding, grain elevator, and the CN ident sign. One thing I don’t see are any mountains or even a hill; wonder why they called it Last Mountain.
Hi Steve, thanks for your kind comments. According to Wikipedia, “Last Mountain Lake is named in honour of a Plains Cree legend about the Great Spirit shovelling dirt from the valley the lake now occupies and forming Last Mountain Hills, east of Duval and Strasbourg.”
Nice work Steve, did you happen to see the old pumphouse in Girvin? That is a pretty neat structure!
https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=4215
No, I missed the pump house! 🙁 If I am ever in the area again, I’ll be sure to check it out.