The Heber Creeper

We recently took a ride on the Heber Creeper. (Technically, it's now called the Heber Valley Railroad.)

The train pictured below is not the one on which we rode, but I thought it looked really cool.

Junior was very nervous about going on this train ride. Apparently he still does not trust us due to past trauma.

As soon as we got going, he cheered up.

It was a nice, slow ride. It is a historic train, after all.

Uh, oh--somebody lost something. Luckily, none of us lost anything like that.

The scenery was gorgeous.

The train was robbed during our ride.

Things got a little intense there for a while.

I read online reviews about these rides before we decided to go and many of them were negative, saying that it was boring, uncomfortable, and not worth the money. After reading them we almost decided against going, but I'm glad we did go because we really enjoyed it. It was peaceful, beautiful, and fun to have an old-time train experience. However, I would not want to go in the summer because there is no AC. It was a pleasant fall day for our ride. Also, we chose a shorter excursion--maybe the longer ones get tiresome--and we had a coupon, so our price wasn't so high. One thing that I think could be improved is the tour script. They told us about some of the things we passed, but I would have liked to have heard more about the history of that railroad and interesting facts about the trains. So there's my two cents, in case anyone is interested.

The fact that we took the boys out of school early probably added to their enjoyment.

Here is a poem by Emily Dickinson with which I conclude this post:

The Railway Train

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties, by the sides of roads;
And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop--docile and omnipotent--
At its own stable door.