Heber Valley Railroad - All Aboard!
The world is full of steam train buffs looking for another fix
Put me down as one of them, always watching for another steam train journey. In my case you can trace it back along the rail line of my life to early childhood experiences with steam engines and their hiss, puff and bluster. It gets in your blood. At elementary school you declare proudly that you’re going to be a locomotive engineer when you grow up. Along the way, you can satisfy it with your model railway, but it’s not enough.
This is why I’m standing at the Heber Valley Railroad Terminal in Utah, with my wife and two granddaughters Lauren and Cassidy in tow. Alas, I became a writer not an engine driver, but still live the life whenever I can. Maybe more than the soot of this 32-mile return trip in the famous Provo Canyon will linger and bring new converts in my growing family.
Here’s hoping the three hours ahead justify the rather steep cost – US$26 per adult and a hefty US$15 per child. As visiting Canadian tourists, we were in shock and almost didn’t bother traveling by road from Provo up the canyon to Heber City and the Heber Creeper as it was once known for its less than blistering speed. But, the trip is worth it and the rush it gives proves a good investment.
There’s even a bunch of gun-slinging cowpokes who clamber aboard and try to rob a passenger or two. And there’s a shoot out at Soldier Hollow just out of Heber City and one cowboy bites the dust in a hail of lead (I’ve always wanted to write a line like that). Ash, history. Wait a minute, he didn’t bite as much dust as I thought, he shakes himself off and makes a miraculous recovery as the train pulls away with its passengers all abuzz.
Rail came to the canyon and Heber City in 1899 and took the pioneers to Provo with daily connections to Salt Lake City. The Heber Valley Railway has had more names and death notices than a weekly newsletter at a geriatric home, but it has bounced back each time and survived several reincarnations.
Even some of the original track right of way is now buried under water thanks to the creation of the Deer Creek Lake and dam, which border much of its scenic route. But, today the track is laid up along the bank, clear of the water.
The railway exists today, thanks to the State’s encouragement and the dedication of railway enthusiasts and volunteers. Added to that was the generosity of the Union Pacific Railway, who donated the beautifully-restored steam locomotive #618. Old 618 is doing the hard work on a five car set this summer’s day, and the valley has its own vintage steam train once more, exclusively there for tourists, proud locals, parties and conventioneers.
Indeed, Heber City Terminal is a credit to volunteers and others and seems in better shape today than it was for much of its working life. From the authentic conductor and train crew uniforms and the two open-air cars available year round, the railway invites you to taste a past where steam ruled.
You can wander the train from its restored caboose to passenger cars, hang your head out of the open air cars (watch out for trees and bushes) and snap that perfect shot as old 618 tackles a sharp curve along the canyon route amid an array of recreational boaters and fly fishermen dabbling in the creek and lake.
The 16.1-mile outward journey takes passengers west to Vivian Park and a brief rest stop. Watch out, here. The conductor said we’d get 30 minutes but it was only 20. Here the steam purists watch 618, which had reversed its way at the head of the train from Heber City Terminal, take its rightful place up front and right way round for the climb back to the terminus.
In all, it was a rewarding three hours of clickety clicking. Sometimes bathed in soot particles (fluff them off rather than trying to rub them away they advise), often bathed in smoke (that’s what it’s all about), the 100 or so passengers this day seem transfixed by the carefree mix of history and the scenic beauty they are passing through. You relive it as you breathe it.
As we say goodbye, I’m hoping the Heber Valley Railroad is being injected into the bloodstream of my granddaughters. One way or another they’ve learned this day that their grandpa still breathes steam.
If you go the Heber Valley Railway in Utah:
The Heber Valley Railway operates year round and even offers a North Pole Christmas Train and a Haunted Canyon ride around Halloween. Costs vary depending on the time of year and trip, so check it out at: www.hebervalleyrr.org
Email reservations: reservations@hebervalleyrr.org
Phone: (435) 654-5601
Author: Ray Dykes
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