9 January 2010

River Hills Set to Talk with CPR

Rathwell Manitoba - River Hills Railway president Harold Purkess said the fledgling shortline company will negotiate with Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the future.
 
River Hills wants to buy 100 kilometres of the CPR's Glenboro line between Rathwell and Nesbitt. The CPR listed that portion for closure because of the declining number of railcars it sends west of Rathwell.
 
Purkess, a former reeve of the Rural Municipality of Victoria, said a share drive organized by River Hills during the latter part of 2009 brought in about $300,000.
 
"We're going to proceed to see if we can make a deal with CP Rail. The general concensus is we've raised enough seed capital to come up with a deposit and start negotiations with them," Purkess said.
 
River Hills wants to make a downpayment of about $250,000 for the line and is hoping to complete negotiations by June.
 
To make the shortline viable, River Hills needs to dramatically increase the amount of rail traffic.
 
Over the last few years the CPR reduced the number of grain cars going west of Rathwell to less than 100.
 
700 Cars
 
"Our preliminary estimate is, from the feasibility study that was done, we'll need approximately 700 cars per year at least in the first year or so to break even or show a slight profit. And the feasibility study shows it should not be a problem to accomplish that," Purkess said.
 
He pointed out there are only two grain elevators left in operation between Rathwell and Nesbitt, the N.M. Patterson elevators at Cypress River, and Holland, however the shortline railway isn't detered.
 
"There's a fair bit of interest in creating loading facilities at the various points like at Treherne, Holland, Cypress River, Glenboro, and Nesbitt," Purkess noted.
 
He added there is also interest in making some of the facilities weather proof.
 
"A truck and an auger is fine, expect when it's pouring rain or blowing snow."
 
River Hills is also waiting on a Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruling on a shortline in Alberta before negotiating futher with the CPR.
 
Purkess declined to say what the estimated cost of buying the Rathwell to Nesbitt line could be. But at an August 6 meeting in Glenboro a shortline railway expert said the cost could be around the $6 million mark.
 
For more information go to www.rhrr.ca.
 
Glen Hallick.