The railway played a bigger role in the lives of the Artlanders than would seem evident at first sight.  Not only did they hold the mortgage on much of the land they farmed or ranched they leaned on their monopoly position to set freight rates for all they produced.  As well, the locals believed the railways charged more for farm supplies and appliances from Eastern Canada than necessary because of that monopoly.  The railroads got the best both worlds.  But once in a while a local ‘entrepreneur’ would salvage something out of the arraignment.

           You might cut an old boxcar in half (Photo 3) and sit it out in a field to use it as a storage shed like this one in Artland.  Long after other man made structures have crumbled to the ground this derelict remains.  If you look closely at the horizontal boards on the inside (on the right) you will see that each one is marked with a line and a grain product.  Of course the boxcar had restricted weight limits, and the various grains each had different weights, so you could load oats high near the top of the car; barley just above the center line; corn on center and the much heavier wheat just below the half way point.  Hard to get that nice lean using a plastic car though.