18 December 2010

Ogema Chug Chug Chugging Along

Ogema Saskatchewan - Billed "the little town that could" in Regina's Leader Post, Ogema has been very busy over the last number of years trying to keep their small town alive and well.
 
Ogema has been in the Triangle News a number of times over the past few years with projects to bring business and residents to their community.
 
The town was recognized nationally in 2005 for economic development, traveled to China in November of 2008 for the Liv Com awards, and most recently they are back in the news with their plan to bring train tours to Ogema.
 
With the recent acquisition of a train engine and passenger car, the once dream of having tours is one step closer to reality.
 
The dream began in 1999 when the communities of Pangman, Ogema, Horizon, Viceroy, Verwood, Readlyn, and Willows purchased the rail line that stretches from Pangman to 4 kilometres east of Assiniboia.
 
Carol Peterson, who has been very active in the economic development of Ogema is the Vice President of the newly formed 10 person Ogema Heritage Railway Association. She said, "I had the epiphany in 1998 and I thought we could do a train tour here."
 
The first step to building the dream was to have a train station. The original train station that once stood in Ogema was torn down in the late 1960s, when the only option for the station given by CP at the time was to move it or tear it down. At the time the town had not started the collection of buildings for the Pioneer Museum so the building was torn down.
 
With their's gone, the town set out to find a replacement train station "We happened to find one up at Simpson. It was the exact duplicate of ours." said Peterson. According to Peterson, a farmer had purchased the Simpson train station and had moved it to his farm where he was using it for grain storage. "He had taken really good care of it, and put it up on blocks, so it wasn't rotting out or anything." said Peterson
 
The Ogema contingent agreed to replace the farmer's grain storge and he gave them the building.
 
The group made a deal on some bin metal with Peter Secundiak, who sells grain bins. "We went up there with a group of people and put it up one Saturday afternoon and then we started the process of moving it down here." reported Peterson
 
The building was moved in two pieces, as it had been when it made its first move to the farm.
 
Volunteers then set to work returning the grain bin to its former train station appearance.
 
"We refurbished it exactly the way it was, about 1940's era." said Peterson
 
The group then gathered pieces from the museum and the area to furnish the building. "It just looks the way it was before and we have a bunch of CPR paraphernalia that we had in the freight shed." Among the furnishing are a velocipede, the signs, signal arms, conductors hat, telephone, the telegraph, as well as the original ticket desk that was purchased from the community of Readlyn.
 
The train station is now a part of the Deep South Pioneer Museum, that celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2009.
 
According to Peterson there are 30 buildings on site with a furnished school, chruch, and farm house.
 
The latest addition is the North West Mounted Police barracks that was moved from Ogema.
 
When the building was lifted to be moved from Ogema to the museum site, a horse hoof was found and was identified as a service horse for the NWMP. Although Peterson was unable to find proof in the archives she has her own theory. "I think what happened is the horse died and he wanted proof that he hadn't actually sold the horse, so he kept the one leg."
 
Peterson talked about the train engine that the community recently purchased. According to Peterson, the engine is a 44 ton diesel engine that was built in the late 40s.
 
The engine, that was found in New Hampshire, is a small engine that was used to move things in the rail yard. A passenger car was found near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
 
Once the heritage group found the engine and passenger car, they needed to come up with the money to purchase them and more importantly move them to Ogema.
 
Peterson explained, "We went to the Credit Union and they gave us some money, so now we are just fundraising to pay the Credit Union back." Peterson estimated a cost of $100,000 for the purchase and move.
 
A number of things are being done to help raise money, including two online contests, one through "Joey's Only" restaurant and one through Pepsi. The bid was unsuccessful in the "Joey's Only" contest but voting is open in the Pepsi contest until 31 Dec 2010.
 
Another involves personal donations, "What we're doing is called a 250 for 200 club and its 250 people that donate $200 each and that should bring the engine here and then we're going to do a 150 for $150 to get the passenger car here and they will actually be taxable, charitable, donations."
 
Peterson said the group plans a "soft start" in 2011, meaning they will begin slowly, starting with specialty tours. "We won't go full out, we want to get the kinks out of everything... you want to start off on the good foot."
 
Peterson talked about the partnerships that will be formed with other organizations and communities.
 
The group's idea would have tourists experience a train ride, like the pioneers who came to the area by train, experience the area's scenery and wildlife, then disembark at the museum where they can see how pioneers lived. "The Deep South Pioneer Museum is a good fit."
 
"The train tour goes down into the Badlands, down by Verwood, so there's some really beautiful scenery down there, its pretty fantastic, but when they come back and get off the train, they can go to the museum and they can see what the pioneers used for working the land, where they went to school, where they went to church, where they lived... It will be quite a good experience!"
 
As well as the income that can be reaped from the train tour, Peterson sees many spinoffs for the area. "It will bring people to the area and the areas around us will be able to benefit from it because they have museums as well".
 
Peterson also saw the Big Muddy Tours that leave from Coronach during the summer as a good fit, "the tourists out of Coronach would just fit in so good with this because it would show where the ranch-type pioneers went. If they wanted the true western thing, that would be the big thing, come out on the train, then go down and see the badlands."
 
Peterson's sites are set even further, "We could do charters out of Regina and Moose Jaw, the casinos, even Saskatoon isn't that far. You could come out and you could have a day trip or you could have a weekend and do different packages. The tourism is just going to be enormous."
 
Peterson explained some of the ideas for train rides include a starlight tour, a sunset tour, a wine and cheese tour, a death by chocolate, a murder mystery, and a wild west tour. "It just goes on and on." said Peterson (track). "It goes from Pangman right to four kilometres outside of Assiniboia and then it hooks right on to CP.
 
"It's just really exciting and we're having lots of fun doing all this!" said Peterson.
 
Kelly Elder.