The Regina and Long Lake railroad opened as far as Craven in 1885.
It was thus described by a correspondent of the London Times in 1886:

"To the northward of Regina the Qu'Appelle Valley, now putting on
the pretty autumn tints, is carved out of the table land; a depression of
250 feet to 300 feet nearly two miles broad, across the level floor of
which the narrow crooked river wanders at will. A branch railway, the
Regina and Long Lake road, runs out to this valley, getting down the
grade through a long coulee, and after going about 23 miles distance
ends practically nowhere, being intended some way to be prolonged be-
yond Long Lake, a sheet of water about 60 miles long and from one to
four miles broad that lays between the hills south of the river. This
railway has been built within a year past, but it has little trade to boast
of as the region round Regina is but sparsely settled. The locomotive
carried us to the end of the track and there a ranch had been established
with 600 head of cattle. The drouth [sic], however, had been so severe that
but little hay was made; as it costs two pounds (ten dollars) a ton, the
cattle will have to be taken west to winter. This railway carried us to a
pretty spot down on the floor of the valley with the great scoured and
rounded bluffs rising on either hand, but it was a strange sort of a road.
It had no stations and the train stopped when any one wished to get on
and off. There were no points or sidings on the entire line, and the train
had to come out of the valley backwards. Yet several ambitious towns
were laid out along the line at places where not a single house was in
sight, and had been named for English gentlemen who were shareholders
in the company. In the ranchman's house about 500 yards from the
end of the line the post office of Craven was established, the postmaster
being a salaried official of the Dominion Government receiving the stipend
of eight shillings (two dollars) a year." There we have the Long Lake
Railway and its terminus in 1886. The line was eventually extended to
Prince Albert; leased and worked by the C. P. R. When the lease was
about to expire the C. P. R. offered to buy the holders of the line out at
a price. The C. P. R. had not yet realised that there was another Rich-
mond on the field-Mackenzie. Mackenzie and Mann offered a better
price which was accepted. The Regina and Long Lake therefore ceased
to be a part of the C. P. R. system, and proved an excellent investment
for the Canadian Northern. Incidentally the C. P. R. had to do some
building to fill up the gap. The Long Lake Railway received a land
grant from the Government of 6,400 acres a mile; but there was a charge
on it of ten cents an acre for the cost of surveying and incidental expenses.