Zach Hall examines number 75's firebox crownsheet - 6 Oct 2009 Mark Johnston *1.

Heber City Utah - You won't see a plume of cindery black smoke trailing from any of the iconic trains that chug up and down Provo Canyon this summer.
 
The Heber Valley Railroad, Utah's only steam-powered, passenger-carrying railroad, is temporarily retiring its two steam locomotives while the engines undergo a complete overhaul.
 
The railroad's three diesel electric engines will instead fill in until the summer of 2009, allowing business and recreation to carry on as usual for both workers and passengers riding the trains.
 
The historic railroad has operated for 13 years in its current position as a tourist line, and was saved from extinction when the Utah State Legislature created the Heber Valley Railroad Authority in 1992 and appropriated US$1 million to restore the railroad to operating condition.
 
Since then, income for the railroad has come solely from the ticket sales of the more than 95,000 passengers who ride the train each year.
 
For many of those passengers, the adventure of riding behind a steam powered locomotive is the novelty that draws and keeps them coming back to ride the rails.
 
"I think the steam engines are one of the main things that get people up there to ride the train," said Tiffany Lofgran, a 33-year-old, stay-at-home, Springville mom.
 
Lofgran and her husband have five boys ages 1 to 11 and have taken their three oldest to ride the Heber Valley Railroad's trains.
 
"They just make you feel like you've stepped back in time with the smoke and rocking and whistling that's unique to a steam engine," she said.
 
Heber Valley Railroad owns two tourist-attracting 1907 Baldwin steam engines that originally operated on the Great Western Railroad and the Oregon Short Line Railroad, owned by the Union Pacific.
 
The historic engines that now operate along the tracks between Vivian Park in Provo Canyon, and Heber City, will be taking a rest and spending the year in the mechanic's shop at the train yards.
 
According to Mike Manwiller, chief mechanical officer with the Heber Valley Railroad Authority, the engines have seen approximately 200,000 miles of service since their last major overhaul in 1953, and are due for another complete refurbishment.
 
As required by the government, the engines must undergo a mandated inspection in order to continue operating.
 
"Knowing where the engines are right now," Manwiller said, "I know what we're going to need to do, and I know that through the inspection process there's certain things that won't pass. And so that's why we're into this overhaul situation. This is the first time overhauls like this have taken place here since the inception of this railroad, and we're at a point where the engines are just shot and worn out. So you either have to park it, paint it, and make it look pretty, stuff and mount it, or you have to overhaul it."
 
Thus, the Railroad Authority determined that the two steam locomotives would go through a rigorous and lengthy overhaul in which they would be dismantled, reconstructed, and restored back to their original 1907 condition.
 
A US$750,000 grant was issued by the federal Transportation Enhancement Program to help the railroad perform the work on Oregon Short Line Engine number 618.
 
The renovation of Grand Western Engine number 75, which has already begun, is being done through ticket revenues.
 
The engine will receive a new air brake system, water tank, cab, tender, and appliances, among other things, with 90 percent of the parts being built right at the railroad's shop and in accordance with the original blueprint drawings of the engine that are in the railroad's possession.
 
"Basically, the engine is stripped down to as far as you can literally take it apart," Manwiller said.
 
"The only thing we probably won't do is physically take the frame apart. Obviously, we can implement modern practices in the restoration process, but we don't sacrifice the finished product."
 
The Heber Valley Railroad Authority anticipates that the restoration of both engines will take its mechanics more than a year to complete.
 
Jeff Kooring, sales and marketing director for the railroad, commented on the timetable to complete the project.
 
"Being non-profit, it costs so much money, and takes so much time to do this kind of a project, and then you find unexpected things along the way," Kooring said.
 
"So it's taking a lot longer than we thought."
 
With the cost, effort, and length of time involved, the question has been raised of whether it's worth preserving the historic steam engines.
 
Craig Lacey, executive director for the Heber Valley Railroad Authority, voiced the railroad's stance on that question.
 
"Restoration, operation, and maintenance of 100-year-old steam locomotives is a very expensive proposition, the majority of our financial resources are allocated to their preservation," Lacey said.
 
"With heritage tourism on the rise, many people want to experience how things were done in the past. Witnessing a steam locomotive in operation is a sensory experience that is never forgotten. The machinery is out where people can see and hear it, and the smells, heat, and shaking of the ground are unique to a steam locomotive. The excited or wistful expressions in the eyes of a toddler, a teenager, or a long-retired railroader make all of the effort and expense worthwhile. In addition, we're all a little bit crazy! I think that if you're going to preserve history, which is what our mission is, is to preserve history through restoration, then it kind of defeats the purpose if you don't have a steam engine as a flagship for that function," Kooring added.
 
While the steam engines are being restored, the railroad will maintain its usual train schedule using vintage diesel electric engines.
 
If all goes according to schedule, passengers can look forward to seeing the newly renovated steam engines when they make their grand debut in the summer of 2009.
 
The historic locomotives will, with a little luck, be primed to give another 50 years of service along the scenic Heber Valley Railroad.
 
Amber Foote.