The Sunflour Railroad is a short-line railroad which owns trackage in Roberts County

Roberts County, South Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,016 people, 3,683 households, and 2,618 families residing in the county. The population density was 9 people per square mile . There were 4,734 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile...

 and Marshall County

Marshall County, South Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,576 people, 1,844 households, and 1,252 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile . There were 2,562 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile...

, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

. The company owns approximately 26.3 route-miles of track, between the towns of Rosholt

Rosholt, South Dakota

Rosholt is a town in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 423 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Rosholt is located at ....

 and Veblen

Veblen, South Dakota

Veblen is a city in Marshall County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 281 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Veblen is located at ....

; the line connects with the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 at Rosholt.

The trackage now owned by Sunflour was originally constructed in 1913 by the Fairmount and Veblen Railway

Fairmount and Veblen Railway

The Fairmount and Veblen Railway was a short line railroad which operated in Richland County, North Dakota; Roberts County, South Dakota; and Marshall County, South Dakota....

, a local shortline which extended from Fairmount, North Dakota

Fairmount, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 406 people, 174 households, and 104 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,234.2 people per square mile . There were 202 housing units at an average density of 614.0 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 95.07% White, 2.46%...

 to Grenville, South Dakota

Grenville, South Dakota

Grenville is a town in Day County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 54 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Grenville is located at ....

. The railway was soon purchased by the Soo Line Railroad

Soo Line Railroad

The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...

, and operated as a branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

; the portion of the branch beyond Veblen to Grenville was abandoned in 1971. Sunflour purchased the Rosholt-Veblen trackage in 2000, after the Soo Line had requested permission to abandon that portion of the route.

The Sunflour Railroad apparently operated for only a short time, although the trackage remains intact in 2006. The railroad's only locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

, an EMD SW1

EMD SW1

The EMD SW1 was a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between December 1938 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at La Grange, Illinois. The SW1 was the second generation of 600 hp switcher from EMD, succeeding the SW and SC...

 switcher

Switcher

A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...

, currently rests on a siding at Victor, South Dakota.