Adventure 87: Heber Valley Railroad

This is an adventure of a train ride. When I mentioned to friends this was one on my list, my friend Tom said "please let me know when you do that!" I, of course was pleased to have a companion, and Tom, who is a train-loving fool was the perfect companion on this train adventure!

When we arrived, there were men directing parking, and pedestrians, as there was a fairly large film production going on. Apparently it was a TV spot for the Sochi Olympics that would be aired in Korea only. If only the Koreans knew... that authentic-looking Russian train in that commercial is actually set in a small town in Utah. Of course, Sochi is not the first town to take advantage of the low production costs of shooting in Utah. I'm looking at you, Hollywood.

It was  beautiful day!

There were train themes everywhere in the ticket office.

Take a closer look at that chandelier.

Charming.

Tom was diggin the train theme.

The schedule board, sadly, is purely there for aesthetics, because the train schedules are tours only, no actual destinations.

There's a history here in Heber City. In fact, the train we rode on this day was previously used to hold sheep, built in the 1800s.

We had to get a picture with the chandelier, it was sort of like trying to get a celebrity to photo bomb a selfie.

You're such a poser, Tom.

The charming conductor was the helpful soul who told us all about the filming that had been going on all morning. He was cracking up that the production was supposed to take place in Russia.

Boarding time!

Tom had to flag me over to join the line... I almost missed my spot, oops. Hey! You try not taking a million pictures when you're surrounded by old-timey trains!

These seats were installed in the 1970s. There was about 4 inches for leg room between the seats facing each other. So, if you weren't prepared to be in the space of the person sitting across from you, well... you got there quickly.

Here's the thing about my friend Tom... he looks like such a though guy, right? He's actually a super sweet guy.

It was a little cold in the train.

And we were off!

We were given an introduction to Heber Valley, and were told we'd be going along the Deer Valley Reservoir, up the mountain a couple of miles, then we'd head back down. A very simple, slow ride.

He told us we could step out on the little balcony between cars, so of course we were the first ones out there, per Tom's prompting.

The view is much better when you step outside...

... where you can see the water...

... feel the wind in your hair...

... and see the tracks passing beneath your feet.

After about 30 minutes, we made a stop at Soldier's Hollow.

Which is where a bandit hoped on, and held us up!

He had a delightfully high-pitched, crackly old western voice. He was looking for gold, but ended up throwing around chocolate gold coins.

He almost kidnapped one of the ladies to do his cooking, but she barely got away!

He also picked up someone who wanted to join his gang. This little boy was squealing with delight at the bandit's outbursts, and followed him everywhere.

Once we started going again, and passed the reservoir, we saw a couple of ice-fisher-people out on the water.Once at the top, we stopped for 30 minutes or so, Tom got us some hot cocoa, and then headed back down the hill. Delightful.

Time spent on adventure: 2 hours

Money spent: $15/ticket

Recommendation: 8 out of 10 adventure points!