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Show WASATCH COUNTY COURIER Se 21, 1999 i = Turning a Much Bigger Corner train, featured inA River Runs Through It, was added to the fleet last year, giving the Heber Valley Railroad engines and a diesel engine. Heber Creeper turns 100 years old Its Jean Croasmun, Courier staff two steam sell HOt fast, but the Heber Valley Railroad is stronger than ever. Instead of sheep, the train is expected to carry over Somebody had to say, “I think I can.” It was too easy. A small train pulled by a 60,000 human passengers this year. This steam engine, heading up the Provo to Heber. Riddled by difficulties. Shut down twice. children’s stories and fairy tales Railroad has turned into valuable tourist attraction in the now-booming Wasatch County, a constant on the area’s everchanging horizon. latest hill from financial It’s. what are made of. “T think I can. And to be quite frank, if the situation were the same, it probably wouldn’t happen today. That makes the Heber Valley er. right of speed, occasionally taking up to eight hours to get from Provo to Heber. ““Sometimes they’d stop and fish,” ‘says McConnell. 1940s, the train served to transport the abundance of sheep out of the Heber Valley. But with the advent of modern roads and highrunning a Financial setbacks forced the railroad to stop running once again in 1990, and for three years, the Heber lines sat untouched. But a community effort and commitment to the tourist railroad, plus ‘House Bill 283 and _ state- funding, - brought the iron horse back to life in its Later, in the 1930s and ways, for the railroad, for a while. train in and out of | “Tt wasn’t profitable,” says McConnell of the decision to stop running the Heber third and current incarnation in May, 1993. Now, 100 years after the first train traveled to the Heber Valley, the train coneach die between Heber, Boller eo and Vivian Park. The train is scheduled ‘to serve as a major form of transportation ing,” he says. “We started with nothing.” - But from that nothing came somethingsomething bigger than anyone could have anticipated. And now, in its 100th year, the little train that could is celebrating its birthday with the rest of the community. | aT its name “Heber Creeper,” due to its lack ; Thanksgiving day, 1970, the locomotive left Salt Lake for Heber, and all was well ed the train. The community and the city got together and started letter writ- On Friday, September 24, at 6:00 p.m., the Heber Valley Railroad will hold a one-night locals-only ride. For $5.00 per person, plus a contribution to the local Food Bank, any resident who would like to be a part of the celebration is invited to board the train (space permitting). Reservations até encouraged and can be made by calling 654-5601. during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. And just like the story, what was once “I thinkI can. J think I can,” ultimately Special night trips and seasonal excur- | sions are offered. A. second “movie” became “I know I can. Someone had to say it. I know I can.” Zo : line. And the tracks lay dormant, for a while. JS of the Heber Valley Railroad,.once smoothest form of transportation in out of the Heber Valley. Back in the of 1899, the Heber Creeper made its way up Provo Canyon, via Utah Eastern Railway tracks (later Rio Grande & Rio Grande Western railroad) for the first time. original goal of the railroad.was to freight into the community and to livestock out, although passengers permitted to board, too. The bring take were But a few years later, a group of local businessmen and railroad enthusiasts brought the train back, this time as ‘a tourist’ attraction, and the Wasatch Mountain Railway was born. Heading up the train was Union Pacific engine #618, a steam engine that was on display at the state fair grounds in Salt Lake. According to McConnell, the engine was more of a liability to the state than it was an asset. “They were going to dig a hole and bury it,” said McConnell. Wasatch Mountain Railway snapped up the working engine and on ‘Heber Valley Railroad’s steam engine, #618, was scheduled to ce in Salt Lake before it was put to use in Heber. B epdd we us the Trick, we ll give pou the Treat. Give us pour creepiest, crawliest, ghouliest and best Halloween stories. See the Events Calenoar on page 19 for more gruesome details. PTT September 29 marks the 100th anniver- then Denver a thing DOr a blistering pace. According to Ken McConnell, marketing director for the Heber Valley Railroad, the train earned Rio Grande Railroad abandoned the tracks. The Heber train crept to a halt. Western, that the doing rer The train was a workhorse, nothing else. It wasn’t a fancy beast nor did it travel at ley. In. their place are curb and gutter subdivisions, orchards of spec homes, Except for the train. is anoth- “It was a_ grass-roots effort,” says McConnell. “The city decided it want- and ranches that once made up the val- and fast-food joints. is the sense of owncommunity to rally of their past. wouldn’t be Doing knows of the area’s citizens nearly ten years ago. Heber became too costly and in 1967, when U. S. 189 was built, the Denver & four-lane highways, ‘And quickly fading ership that drives a behind the artifacts McConnell j In the years since, the face of the Heber Valley has changed drastically, becoming more and more a bedroom community, a suburb if you will, of Provo, Orem, Park _ City, and Salt Lake. Gone are the farms I think I can.” yr Heber Creeper. Letters were written to state officials, funds were allocated, and the community joined forces to save what. was left of the old iron horse that once traveled the tracks back and forth between Heber and Provo. The end result was a successful rebirth of a symbol of times gone by. Valley TWIT stay of the Wasatch County horizon-the Heber now if it hadn’t been for the dedication Less than a decade ago, citizens of Wasatch County, government officials, and business leaders banded together to And train anomaly of sorts, an exception to the tule in the Heber Valley-the little train that could. bring back what had once been a main- of the Thinking is one thing. Railroad, formerly the Heber Creeper, an sary. the -and fall version |