Huntsville to Helper

After camping the night in Huntsville, we woke up early and gave the car a good clean out before heading off for our next adventure. We decided to steer clear of SLC and it's insane freeway system, and instead stick to the back roads (which are still miles better than any NZ highway). We drove from Huntsville to Mountain Green, where we followed the old highway for a bit. Then I spied a train overtaking us and suddenly my passionate hatred of the Interstate system evaporated and in a few moments we were whizzing along the I80 towards Echo, paralleling the trains. We'd soon overtaken mr train (a unit coal train) but then I spied another in the distance and soon enough a double-stacker (containers stacked two-high on well deck container wagons) whizzed by. I snapped off a few shots where I could of my coal train. It was a fair length with a Union Pacific and Southern Pacific loco on the front, and the same combination on the rear in DPU mode (distributed power mode, i.e. remote controlled pushes). Power was the usual GE Dash 9 variants (C44-9W, ES44AC, AC4400; they all look identical to me) which are a modern wide-nosed American diesel; I happen to find them quite attractive. Before long another train passed our coal train; I couldn't believe it – three trains in all of 30 minutes!

Before long we arrived at a spaghetti junction (complete with YET MORE ***** ROAD WORKS!) at Echo, so I pulled in to consult the map and watch the trains. There I spied a sister pair of older SD40-2s shunting away, so had much fun watching them. They had a beautiful horn and the turbo whine as they notched up and down was fantastic. While in Echo a school group was wandering around taking notes; not sure what were studying though; maybe small town America? (Life without a McDonalds?!)

The small town of Echo, not much more than a small motel, petrol station, store and a house.

Sisters 3214 and 3215 haul a train of tanker wagons off, while a different pair of SD40-2s (3212 and 3436) scuttle about the yard shunting.

5762 and its SP friend accelerate out of Echo. The SD40s win hands down for best horn though.

We had to leave the Echo sub and it's amazing 5-trains-in-under-an-hour record and headed off towards Heber. Stopped in Heber and admired their railway yard, not too much to see though.

Heavyweight steel carriage / Rio Grande styled shunter at Heber Valley Rail Road.

After Heber we turned a corner and were in the Provo Canyon; WOW! We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls (yes they have one of them too) and took lots of photos. Amazing scenery, all rocky cliffs and conifer forests with waterfalls; just like mountain forests are supposed to be.

 

 
Angela admiring the scenery / people posing on the rocks (I waited a long time for the big lady on the rock to move… she seemed to be of the opinion that if she'd made it this far to the rocks then the whole of Utah damn well better know about it!)

The water at the falls was very cold! We spied a couple making out on a bridge, who didn't look impressed when we interrupted them (but how else was anyone supposed to get to the car park?!), a rollerblading couple, a guy in a recumbent bicycle, more young mothers, and a mother who had made a leash for her kid by tying a rope into his dungarees! Oh and the big lady on the rocks who was determined to be in everyone's photos.

Shortly afterwards we popped out in Orem, where I had an important date with a model shop. Only problem is I had the address on my laptop, and my laptop had gone flat. So I had to call into a petrol station (where they, as policy, say hi to everyone as they walk into the store) and use their phone book. Curious note: their White Pages don't list any businesses. Real useful. Found the address and before long was standing in the amazing little model shop Hobby Stop LC ("where the hobby stop is always cheaper than therapy"). What a great little store! I've bought some locos from them on eBay before so decided to check them out, and am very glad I did. Their N scale section was small, but about 10,000 times larger than anything in Chch. They had two whole cabinets full of N scale locos, and a wall full of wagons. I went away a very happy customer, among my purchases were a Dash 8 Warbonnet Santa Fe loco, a Montana Rail Link GP9 to join my growing fleet of GP helpers, a Rio Grande carriage that perfectly matches my Rio Grande heritage loco, some freight wagons and a silver carriage that will become my new directors carriage (so the management can tour my railway in style). If you're in Orem, Utah, I highly recommend Hobby Stop. As someone said, they make other model shops look like they've just been burgled!

Then it was off to Helper, the high point of my pilgrimage. The drive over Soldier Summit (and perpetual road works… what is it with Americans and highway road works?!) was fun; especially when I rounded a corner and said "hey I recognise this exact scene!", but the real scenery started once we entered Carbon County (famous for its coal mining).

Rounded a corner and saw this…

Castle Gate . WOW. The road there is 3 lanes wide; look carefully and you might see a truck. This thing is massive, and what an icon it is!

 
Castle Gate from the other side.

Was awesome to see in the flesh something I have seen in so many photos. Castle Gate was one of the most famous points on the Rio Grande and used for many of their publicity photos.

From there it was a short drive down into Helper. Had a look around, then went to find a motel – after 6 days of camping my back was ready for a proper mattress! Went into the Helper Roadhouse Motel and I've still got no idea what it really is, but it isn't a motel apparently. Our best guess is some kind of private club's boarding house; most of the people there looked like bikers so maybe a private hostel for bikers? They were very friendly, even if the guy talking to us were permanently cross-eyed. He recommended the Price Riverside Motel, which we duly checked out. "Mico, Fridge, Internet, Clean, Wifi, $39.90" said the sign. Sounds good to me! We paid $5 less for a noisy campsite in SLC! And here we get a room, a roof, a fridge (handy?), 30,000 TV channels, the Union Pacific on one side, and the Price River on the other. The owner, Mark, is very pleasant and spends most of his time pottering around cleaning a door, chatting to the maid, discussing the wifi with me, or reading the paper.

Here's the view from outside our room:

Is that not worth $40/night? Look very carefully in the mid left corner and you'll see Balance Rock jutting up; as much a Helper icon as the railway or the old buildings. Helper is a lovely town, I could write a whole story on how wonderful it is here. Everyone is friendly, they all have a little dog or cat, they all wave, the former Rio Grande main line runs through the centre of town, and the Book Cliffs ring most of the town. Quiet, small, trains, mountains, brilliant weather, cheap; I couldn't ask for much more!