MOOSE JAW — A deer burst forth from the tall grass in the ditch and bounded away, startled by the creaks and squeals of the train slowly chugging its way across the prairie.
As it glided over a road-rail crossing, the 44-ton, 380-horsepower, 1945-built General Electric diesel locomotive blared its horn, briefly interrupting the almost 60 tourists. Some people returned to their conversations, while others continued watching the idyllic brown countryside pass by.
Southern Prairie Railway (SPR) in Ogema has been offering train tours of southern Saskatchewan since 2012, and for several years now, my friend and I have wanted to take a tour. From food and alcohol to train robberies and Harry Potter, there is a ride for almost everyone.
The trip we recently took was the “Settlers’ Supper,” which gives tourists the opportunity “to experience the yesteryear of pioneer travel and way of life” by riding across the prairies to the hamlet of Horizon.
In a small 1920s Roman Catholic country church, visitors would then consume a pioneer meal, including barbecue beef, home-style baked beans, apple cider coleslaw, raw veggies and dip, pickled beets, cowboy biscuits, pies — apple, raisin and pumpkin — and ice cream, all provided by an Ogema business.
Dale, our conductor, greeted us on the platform in Ogema and, as we boarded the two train cars, reminded us not to stick our limbs out the windows. After everyone found seats, the train slowly pulled away from the fully restored Canadian Pacific Railway station that came from Simpson, Sask., to replace the Ogema Station, which was either relocated or demolished in the 1960s.
One train car was a refurbished 1925 passenger coach that had been constructed for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in New England and that SPR purchased in 2010 from Gettysburg, Penn.
The second unit was a car that Canadian Car and Foundry in Montreal built in 1952 for CP Rail, and that had been operating as a cable car in Moose Jaw when Ogema purchased it in the early 2000s.
This second car didn’t have passenger car-like seats but instead had tables and chairs for tourists to sit, drink adult beverages, converse and watch the landscape glide by through the open side doors.
Our trip to Horizon was a slow — but enjoyable — one, as the train travelled at a leisurely pace of 24 kilometres per hour (15 mph), which translated into a 50-minute ride. Carol Peterson, Ogema’s mayor, SPR board chairwoman, and our knowledgeable tour guide, explained that we couldn’t travel any faster because the cars might jump the tracks.
That slow pace was fine with me because it allowed us to see the Saskatchewan landscape differently, one that didn’t rush by at 100 km/h. Instead, that slow crawl enabled us to see the various birds, plants, grasses, farmyards, deteriorating structures and animals — especially coyotes and deer — in more detail.
There was an eagerness to see new scenes as we passed through the various cuts, hills and valleys; at one point, we were on a berm that had a steep drop-off into a gully below. A crane would likely have been needed to rescue us if we slipped off the tracks.
Our train pulled up to a century-old grain elevator in Horizon, where we disembarked. After making our way to the country church, Judy, the Trubidor, greeted us inside, playing old-time tunes on her keyboard and dressed in period clothing.
We enjoyed a delicious meal for about an hour, while I may have even eaten a second — or third! — piece of pumpkin pie, they were so good.
Afterward, we re-embarked and slowly made our way back to Ogema, the setting sun’s red and gold hues a nice bookend to the evening.
