Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day States noted that with the inauguration of the new park transportation system, "this is a great day as far as I personally am concerned."

He quoted the late Church leader J. Reuben Clark Jr., that people should never forget that the deeds of pioneer fathers and mothers "are theirs, not ours. ... We must rise by our own labor."

Elder Ballard said Utahns have an opportunity to make the park a place where people of all cultures and religions are welcome, where they can see Salt Lake City's heritage.

He delivered a message from Church President Gordon B. Hinckley that the pioneer forbears "have passed to us the baton to carry on in the same spirit." President Hinckley added that he hopes "this will be a wonderful new day here at This Is the Place Heritage Park."

The park board's chairman, Ellis Ivory, said that last summer park managers realized "that we had to make this park more user-friendly" and more accessible.

With 46 buildings sprawling across several large blocks, transportation for the thousands of visitors seemed necessary. If a train were built on rails, Ivory said, the cost would have been $5 million. The solution was to build smaller replica trains on tires.

Wearing a railroad engineer's striped hat and fat suspenders, Ivory introduced the man who built the trains, the towering Jerry Shipman of Phoenix, Ariz. "It took a big man to do this job," said Ivory, who is also chairman of the Deseret Morning News.

The replica 119 will be at the park in a few days, he said. "What you see today is the beginning."

As the final act in the ceremony, Huntsman took off his dark jacket, handed it to Ivory, and used a sledgehammer to drive a replica golden spike.

Afterward, the governor told the Deseret Morning News he could sense almost as much energy at the park as was present during the driving of the actual golden spike in 1869.

"People are genuinely thrilled with the opening of the park," Huntsman said.

Daniela Larsen of Saratoga Springs had dressed in the costume of a woman from the 1800s, and dressed her four children in pioneer clothing. "I like it," said her son, Charlie, 8. "I always like the golden spike" and trains, he added.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com