All aboard! Jupiter is on track

EPHRAIM — One of two This Is the Place heritage trains had children and adults singing, moving and learning during a six-hour stop in Sanpete County on Monday.

The small-scale rubber-tired train, a replica of the Central Pacific Jupiter — one of the two trains that met at Promontory on May 10, 1869, left St. George on Saturday.

It is en route to This Is the Place Heritage Park, where it will rendezvous Thursday with a replica of the Union Pacific 119, which is traveling south from northern Utah.

A ceremony will re-enact the driving of the golden spike, the momentous event 138 years ago that united the east/west rail lines. The ceremony kicks off the three-day 2007 grand opening of the upgraded heritage park.

Steve Hershey, facilities director for the park, said not all Wasatch Front facilities reach out to Utah's hinterland. He said the train trek offers a way to introduce the park to more people, especially those living along U.S. 89.

The first stop Monday was at Manti Elementary School. Principal Barbara Eliason said she was "thrilled to death" that the train stopped at her school.

A few children confused the rubber-tire vehicle with "Thomas," the train character in the popular children's book and TV series.

But two "engineers" aboard the train straightened them out by teaching them the train's name and the name of the train it will be meeting Thursday.

As the train — filled with children, teachers and a few parents — circled a few blocks around Manti, passengers sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad."

Even better, everyone got train hats and salt water taffy.

The next stop was at Wal-Mart in Ephraim, six miles north of Manti, where the train took store staff, adult shoppers and a few preschool children on rides around the parking lot.

The biggest crowd of the day gathered in the afternoon at Moroni Elementary School, about 12 miles west of Ephraim, where moms, dads, grandparents, preschool children, elementary students and teachers waited their turns to board.

As the train traveled around town, children yelled "choo choo" and made train motions with their arms.

The train returned to the school, where the first riders got off and a new group boarded. It repeated its rounds four times, allowing most children to ride more than once, before the staff announced the next trip would be the "last, last" ride.

Moroni Elementary student Hannah Talbot, 9, learned the name of the train, Jupiter. But when asked why Jupiter was important, she paused.

"I'm not quite sure," she said.

But she was pretty sure about one thing: "I kind of want to ride on it again because it was really fun."

Jupiter is scheduled to stop today at Wal-Mart in Springville, the Provo Towne Centre, Wal-Mart in American Fork and Thanksgiving Point.

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E-mail: suzanne@sanpetemessenger.com