26 August 2004 CP Rail Set to Abandon White Fox Line The rails west of Nipawin will fall silent within a year, maybe.   Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) announced Thursday it was placing the 45.7 kilometres (28.4 miles) of track from Nipawin to Choiceland on its three-year plan for abandonment.   That decision paves the way for CPR to discontinue service on the line after a year and sell it for the net salvage value at the end of the three years if the line is not sold.   CPR spokesman Ed Greenburg said Monday that kind of outcome is a long way off at the moment. "Placing the line on the list is just the first step. It means that CPR no longer finds the line viable to operate, but we are certainly willing to work with any interested party or parties that would like to continue its operation," Greenburg stated.   "Right now, we just want to make sure that any interested parties out there are aware of what is going on and help them to decide if there is a possible business opportunity for them to operate the line."   He added that CPR doesn't take a decision like this lightly.   "We usually look at line density in determining whether or not to proceed with discontinuance. For long term viability, we like to see about 50 cars per mile per year and with the White Fox subdivision it was 7.2 back in 1999 and only 3.5 so far this year," said Greenburg.   The Reeve for the Rural Municipality of Torch River, Dennis Scott, is not surprised by the announcement.   "We are by no means going to let this die though," he said in an interview Monday.   "They are taking a big asset out of the RM. There were 108 cars shipped on the line between the end of May and the end of the crop year, which kept about $100,000 in the region."   Scott added that the RM council has not met to discuss the topic yet, but that the administrator has been in touch with the regional economic development committee.   "We have been in contact with them about getting a meeting together with interested parties, and buying the line is a possibility. However, there has been no date set yet."   If over the next year there is no takeover of the line by another group, then a public advertisement will be made announcing the line for sale to anyone. If there is no interest after 60 days, the province and municipal governments will be approached.   Should that fail, the line could be abandoned, dismantled and sold for salvage.