Sheila Bautz
The Wheatland Express Excursion Train is a tourist attraction that operates for six months throughout the year between Cudworth and Wakaw. The two prairie towns work together to create historical adventures on the train covering a landscape rich in history. The memorable tourism experiences include the opportunity to book private special tours and customized themes.
This year’s public excursion train themes attracting tourists include The Great Prairie Train Heist with an 1892 time era setting, Nightmare Express and the Magical Christmas Express. As the tourist attraction momentum builds, international visitors from across Europe and as far away as Africa are partaking in the excursion train experience.
“We have increased tours next year for the 2026 season from 16. Our aim is for between 25 and 30 train excursions,” said Haley Beswick, the Wheatland reservation specialist. “We just started the Train Heist theme this year. People really love the Murder Mystery theme too.”
On board the Wheatland Express train is a gift shop, overnight rooms and two bars with the ability to accommodate passengers for meals. Both hospitable communities offer an array of stores, with more tourist attraction businesses set to open for the 2026 tourist season in Cudworth, further stimulating economic development in rural Saskatchewan.
Historical Figures & Landmarks
There are beautiful historical buildings in both communities, including a replica of John George “Dief the Chief” Diefenbaker’s first law office that was opened in Wakaw and later moved to Prince Albert. Diefenbaker became Canada’s 13th Prime Minister — once he established himself extensively as a defence lawyer.
Diefenbaker, who had a love for trains, supported civil rights for all people, social justice and championed the Canadian Bill of Rights. In the 1960’s, for the first time in Canadian history, he granted the extension for the right to vote to First Nations people. Prior to this, the Indian Act required First Nations people to give up their Treaty rights.
“There are more opportunities to meet the people when you go by train, than anywhere else,” said Diefenbaker in a historical speech. “People feel – when you meet them in this way – that they are part and parcel of your thinking, and they feel that they have been personally recognized, as they have been by the fact that you have chosen to visit with them. Their problems, your problems.”
Diefenbaker also nominated the first Indigenous Member of the Senate, James Gladstone, from the Blood Nation in Alberta and appointed Canada’s first ever female cabinet minister, Ellen Fairclough. As Prime Minister, wheat sales to China and agricultural reform revitalized western agriculture under his leadership.
“My friends, this is a time for greatness in planning for Canada’s future,” said Diefenbaker during his political office. “Unity demands it. Freedom requires it. Vision will ensure it. My purpose and my aim will be to lay the foundations of this nation for a great and a glorious future.”
In a nation-wide, high-profile train wreck legal case in 1950, Diefenbaker represented Alfred John “Jack” Atherton in R. v. Atherton, also known as the Canoe River case. Atherton was a railway telegrapheraccused of causing the train crash when two trains collided head-on, killing 4 locomotive crew members and 17 soldiers on their way to Korea. Diefenbaker secured a not guilty of manslaughter verdict.
During his administration, Diefenbaker loved to travel the country by train. Prior to his death, his planned elaborate funeral included a final train journey across Canada with a burial in Saskatoonbeside the Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker Centre at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).
The railway connecting Cudworth and Wakaw also carries an interesting history on its rails.
“This piece of rail is a Canadian national branch line. It was called — is called — the Cudworth subdivision, but before that, it was a branch-line for a railroad called the Grand Trunk Pacific,” said Bill Noble in a public interview. “That railway was part of the last great transcontinental railway that was built about the turn of the 20th century. It took them from 1905 until 1914 to build the main line from Quebec city to Winnipeg to Prince Rupert.”
Noble, a train enthusiast, is a former aviation expert and real-life rocket scientist who is the conductor on the Wheatland Express Excursion Train.
“This line that we’re riding on, was designed to funnel business into the main line. Canadian National no longer owns this line,” said Noble. “It’s now owned by a consortium of towns — Wakaw, Cudworth and Rural Municipalities Fish Creek, Hoodoo — and they are Wheatland Rail and they own the tracks and the infrastructure, if you will. This train is actually owned by the Wheatland Express, which is a separate company, but we’re also — and more importantly — we’re also a registered charity so anything we make goes back into the system.”
The Entertainment & Employment Opportunities
During the summer, the Family Summer Express themes are highly popular with children, as is the Halloween and Christmas themes. Especially designed for families with children 10 years old and under, the summer adventures create an electricity of energy as children are entertained by magicians and balloon artists, and offered face paintings.
In addition, youth employment opportunities are created in the rural setting due to the excursion train business initiative between the prairie towns. This includes the hired acting crew from the Buttered Ghost Theatre Group and the increasing student employment opportunities for youth over the summer months.
The Buttered Ghost Theatre company provides the acting cast who perform and improvise interactive drama for the tourists. Saskatchewan actors and actresses play out the various themes, such as the Train Robbery Heist that has a Robin Hood vibe as all money collected from passengers on the excursion train is donated to various charities.
“The company is absolutely wonderful,” said Beswick. “They also work with the Cursor Clinic Theater, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan and The Fringe on Broadway and the Broadway Theater. Every year the actors switch it up — switch up the storyline and everything — so that’s pretty popular.”
The characters on the excursion train include Mayor Quincy Calloway, who is played by Graheame Kent, the creator and producer of the various interactive performances. Sheriff Presper Breakstone is played by Jacob Yaworski. The role of Gertrude Rosendale is played by Johanna Arnott, the Assistant Producer. Over 14 other actors and actresses are involved in the excursion train theme performances.
Andrea Richardson and Crystal Wilms provide horse and wagon rides to the passengers arriving by train in Cudworth. Bonnie and Clyde, the team of Belgium cross horses, stand patiently waiting for the tourists to depart from the excursion train adventures.
“We work for the Wheatland Express and we’re gonna have a train rolling by here right away,” said Wilms, “and people are going to get off and we’re gonna give wagon rides to everybody on the train.”
Inside the Cudworth train station built in 1925, the era’s furniture and decor remains. The train station is also filled with donated antique items in rooms with themes. Various original documents are on display. On the top floor, some theme rooms represent various ethnic cultures. In other rooms, tourists step back in time to view children’s classroom educational material and a medical office.
“Some people want to come up here [to look around],” said Taylor Mcivor, a first year USask student entering Social Work studies and hired for the summer, “so, we wanted to represent different cultures that came to settle in Cudworth and homestead it.”
Saskatchewan as an increasingly popular tourism hot spot involves Cudworth and Wakaw, which are an hour from Prince Albert, The Great Gateway to The North. The historical Batoche is a short distance from both prairie towns where hotel and motel rooms, along with camping accommodations, are available.
The Wheatland Express Train Excursions contribute to the province’s economic growth, increasing business operations and employment opportunities with multiple venues and offshoot businesses.
