The Town of Ogema has won municipal, provincial, national and international awards for its heritage conservation efforts, which have focused on promoting pioneer life and its well-known train tours.
“We’re very proud of that because we’re not very big,” said Carol Peterson, mayor of Ogema and chairwoman of the Southern Prairie Railway Association.
Peterson spoke about the community’s railway tours during a recent heritage webinar that the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport hosted. The ministry held several webinars in early March about historic buildings, sites, and archaeological projects to help connect the province’s history to the present and the future.
A group came together in 1998 with the idea of showcasing Ogema’s history, specifically, how trains helped with the settlement of Saskatchewan, Peterson explained.
The town holds an annual fair on the second Saturday in July, with a Museum Day on Sunday, but the group believed the town needed something else to highlight the community. With a rail line running through town, they realized that they could offer a train-themed initiative to residents and visitors.
“And we … (didn’t realize) how long it would take to get everything done,” Peterson remarked, noting the project’s grand opening occurred in 2012 during Ogema’s 100th anniversary.
Ogema used to have a train station on Main Street, but the building was removed in the 1960s. Since members wanted a train station where passengers could debark, they searched and found a duplicate building on a farm 125 kilometres north at Simpson, Sask.
“The fellow had saved it and was using it for grain storage. So, we traded three bins for it, and we moved it to Ogema in 2003 in two pieces,” said Peterson. “It took two days to move it and cost over $6,000 for SaskPower to raise the power lines so we could get it down here.”
The association renovated the building while members landscaped the adjacent CP Rail Park. As part of a fundraiser, they also sold name plaques for $1,000 that could be attached to trees and benches in the park.
The association had the train station ready by 2005, which was Saskatchewan’s centennial and the town’s homecoming. They then found a 1945 General Electric 44-ton locomotive in New Hampshire and a 1925 passenger car in Pennsylvania.
The town began offering heritage train tours in 2012 that went to Horizon and Pangman, each about 45 minutes away, said Peterson. Horizon has a working grain elevator, one of seven working elevators on the 117-kilometre rail line, while Pangman has a farmers’ market that has increased tourism to that community and Ogema.
The association initially began with one train tour a month, then increased that to 10 tours because seats quickly sold out. The kids’ train tours proved a big hit, while food-focused tours were similarly popular.
“The craft beer train was (also) very popular. We’ll try that again this year,” Peterson added.
There are many heritage activities in Ogema besides the train rides, such as a walking tour of Main Street and two museums with a combined one million artifacts, the mayor said. The well-known Deep South Museum — celebrating 45 years this year —has 33 buildings on its property, such as a one-room schoolhouse, a church, and a farmhouse.
Ogema is one of a few places in Saskatchewan and Canada with two museums for its size, Peterson continued. There are 382 residents and two non-profit museum charities. These venues also provide summer jobs to students and attract visitors; the train tickets enable tourists to visit the museums for free.
The number of train tourists had increased every year until the pandemic shut down tours in 2020, she added. A limited number of tours were offered in 2021, and while capacity was 60 per cent, the association thought it did well despite the challenges.
For more information, visit www.southernprairierailway.ca.
