26 September 2004 Saskatchewan Farmers Buy Own Railway Moose Jaw - A group of Saskatchewan farmers have bought a 500-kilometre stretch of railway after the company that owned the line planned to shut it down.   Farmers along the Great Western Railway, which stretches from Limerick to Bracken in southwestern Saskatchewan, raised $4-million for the purchase during two months this summer. The total price was $5.5-million.   Louis Stringer, a member of the committee that bought the railway, said most of the 15 elevators along the line are owned by individual producers. If the line closed, he explained, the farmers would have lost their investments in their elevators.   "We calculated there is $20-million in farmer investment along the line," said Mr. Stringer, who lives in Gravelbourg.   The previous owner of the line was Westcan Rail of Abbotsford, B.C. Originally, the line belonged to Canadian Pacific.   Many rural municipalities in the area kicked in money for the purchase to avoid future costs of fixing roads damaged by heavy trucks carrying grain.   The province also provided a $1.76-million interest-free loan for 15 years towards the purchase.   Mr. Stringer said farmers along the line will save money on shipping grain, even if they don't use the railway. Just having it running, he said, means the big grain companies have to keep their trucking prices down.   He said the railway could also pick up business if an ethanol plant is built in Shaunovan, and said there was even a group interested in running a tourist train along the line.   The new railway company wants to raise $500,000 in capital and has extended its deadline for selling shares.   Hal Koberinski of Rail Management Inc., the company that helped arrange the deal, said he has been amazed by how many people are buying shares.   "I've never seen anything like this, it's unprecedented. They all came together so fast and they're very professional about it," Mr. Koberinski said.