South of Summerberry, Saskatchewan there is an abandoned elevator in a field. South down a gravel road from the highway you will eventually see it on the east side of the road. Some weeks prior a person that I correspond with gave me the location and I got photos from the road last Thursday. The solitary elevator stands in a private field with no town nearby and no name that I could see. No evidence of a rail line either. There was nothing to identify it on Google Maps.
After taking photos I headed north back to the highway. After a few miles on a whim I waved down a pickup headed in the opposite direction. I asked the farmer if he knew anything about the elevator. I just happened to meet someone who informed me he lived a half mile from the elevator and gave me the name and a little history. Back in the day it was a rail stop. Now it is a home for skunks, mice, raccoons, and other creatures.
The sits on an abandoned rail line that was known as the Peanut Line because it was a small line. It ran from Wolseley, Saskatchewan to Reston, Manitoba, a distance of one hundred twenty-two miles. The stops from Wolseley were Adair, Deveron, Baring, Kaiser (now known as Peebles), Windhorst, Neelby, Bender, Kennedy, Dumas, Wawota, Walpole, Fairlight, Maryfield, Ebro, Ewart, and Reston. The last three are in Manitoba. Most of the places on the line do not exist anymore. The line existed from 1906 to 1961. The elevator in this post is the Deveron Elevator.
This one was worth the trip - and good that you happened to talk to someone that had some history to share.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures... glad you had a chance to do a bit of a road trip. Hope the restrictions are lifted in Canada soon. I know how happy I am to have some freedom here.
ReplyDeleteNow the history of that elevator and the associated rail line are on the internet for some researcher to find later.
ReplyDeleteGood job!
There are also 2 grain elevators on that line at Neelby, other elevators at Baring, Bender and Walpole still standing. The Peanut Line sentinels do contain the history!
ReplyDeleteI have been to the other ones you mentioned.
DeleteThanks for all the great info , I have been coming to the Kipling area for most of my life and have always wanted to know about this rail line and the towns it served now hoping to model some of the area for a model railway
ReplyDeleteHere’s an article that will help - https://test.memorysask.ca/the-peanut. More information in the Wolseley Archives in The Gallery on Sherbrooke St in Wolseley. There was also a book published about the Peanut line by Gilbert Mackay, long out of print. Information about it is in the Saskatchewan Provincial Archives at https://search.saskarchives.com/reston-wolseley-c-p-r-1906-1961-the-peanut. A scan of the book is online, but not sure where it is.
ReplyDelete