Despite my optimistic posting below, life has dealt the Heber Valley Railroad (along with the others here in the West) a bag of lemons.

Faced with the possibility of a complete shutdown and expense of any fires attributed to operation of the engines in Provo Canyon, the Heber Valley Historic Railroad Authority has decided to suspend the running of any trains beyond the Decker Bay Siding (MP 7.5). Adjustments are being made (read we are making lemonade).

BTW, the HVRR does make use of "stack misters" (our studies show a reduction of over 100 degrees in temperature) and a series of "spraying" jets (powered by a tender-mounted steam lizard) to dampen the ROW as we pass. Trains are followed by a fire patrol to watch for and call in any problems. To date, no fires.

Heber Valley Railroad
utweyesguy@aol.com

Did I miss something here....Has the Forest Service or someone else told Heber Valley RR to cut-back due to fire hazzard or what.
If this is the case it kinda nullifies a lot of that great PR from the Olympics when the train cannot but on the full show. I guess we have to add you guys to the list which already includes the C&TS and D&S. Lets hope you can get running again, as the scenery on your line is spectacular for such a short run.
Steamingly,
Greg Scholl

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sales@gregschollvideo.com

>From the Office of the CMO at the HVRR.

For the record, a few things about this season and the fire danger need to be placed on the table.

The HVRR decided on its own, that train operations wopuld be restricted to the upper valley of the line. Trains will operate three to four to five times daily Tue-Sun. Trains will operate from Heber to MP 7.5 as posted by "Doc Lewis" a credible HVRR Source.

The simple truth is.....In the State of Utah as of this posting, there ar ZERO fire response teams availible to fight any additional fires. This means, there are zero air bombers to drop chemicals, zero helicopters, zero hand crews.

The HVRR operates within the a Utah State Park. The HVRR has worked very hard to make the right of way more fire resistant by cutting and sparying weeds as well as removing a number of trees and sage brush. Despite all of these and many other efforts made by the mchanical team and volunteers at the HVRR, the fact remains that the ground fuel that is there is very dry and secondly, there is nobody out there to help us put it it out IF it starts on fire.

The big word here is IF. A comment has been made about the Olympics and the great exposure. Allow me to add.

As one of the leaders of the 2002 Winter Steam Team which included steam crew members from all over the world, our goal was to futher the cause of steam railroading all over the world. The Nevada Northern Ry was brought in, and together, we presented to the world an image not seen by many.

Though it is hard for me as the current leader of the HVRR to post this note....I must tell you, I would rather see the D&SNG, C&TS and the HVRR NOT run trains rather than be in the news for starting another (heaven forbid) fire in the west. The positive press as a result of the games has been great not only for the HVRR and NNRY but for many others. Please understand that as the leaders of these RR's decided to do what they do, it is for the best long term intrest of the RR they represent.

I post a plea to all of you that work with the C&TS the D&SNG the NNRY or any other western RR......Though it is a bad operating season, DO NOT GIVE UP ON US, AS WE HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON OURSELVES. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS, WE NEED TO FINISH PROJECTS, THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

Doc Lewis used the term I shared with all of our guys three days ago. This is simplyt a bag of lemons, what we do with these lemons is up to us. We, (the managing team) at the HVRR chose to make lemonade and sell it!

We are on the road, we are running steam, we (all RR's) need your support.

John E. Rimmasch
Chief Mechanical Officer
Heber Valley Historic RR Authority
HVRR

Did I miss something here....Has the Forest
> Service or someone else told Heber Valley RR
> to cut-back due to fire hazzard or what.
> If this is the case it kinda nullifies a lot
> of that great PR from the Olympics when the
> train cannot but on the full show. I guess
> we have to add you guys to the list which
> already includes the C&TS and D&S.
> Lets hope you can get running again, as the
> scenery on your line is spectacular for such
> a short run.
> Steamingly,
> Greg Scholl


jrimmasch@yahoo.com

> Though it is hard for me as the current
> leader of the HVRR to post this note....I
> must tell you, I would rather see the
> D&SNG, C&TS and the HVRR NOT run
> trains rather than be in the news for
> starting another (heaven forbid) fire in the
> west.

A lot of people seem to forget that we don't need to run these trains. Thank you for speaking out on the side of responsible behavior.

Martyhuck@aol.com

I respect your decission to do what you feel is necessary. I had no idea it was as bad there as in Colorado, but I guess it makes sense.
Best of luck. You have a neat line, so people should still make a visit.
Greg Scholl

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sales@gregschollvideo.com