The Heber Valley Railroad is working to restore and display a vintage Rio Grande sign that once stood upon the Rio Grande Depot in Salt Lake City before it was replaced a little over a decade ago.
The railroad wants to display it atop a planned extension for its shop building.
But, as Mark Nelson told the Heber City Council this week, the railroad first needs the city’s sign-off to display a sign that doesn’t necessarily fit the city’s ordinances.
He showed the council members a photo of the 114-year-old Rio Grande Depot in Salt Lake City and directed their attention to the illuminated “Rio Grande” sign atop the structure.
“The sign you see lit up here is the 75-year-old Young Electric Sign Company neon sign which they built way back in the ’40s or ’50s,” Nelson said. “About five years ago, they had Young Electric Sign Company build a new sign for them, and they took that sign down.”
He said the Heber Valley Railroad asked them for the old, now-replaced fixture, and he showed a photo of the sign hanging on the side of a storage building.
“We have had many meetings with a lot of individuals, but primarily Young Electric Sign Company and have signed an agreement with them to have them restore the sign, to remove the neon, to restore all the sheet metal that is bent and worn and to rebuild the sign with a new structure, and with LED lights that can be controlled the way LED lights do now,” Nelson explained.
He showed depictions of what the restored sign could look like sitting atop the Heber Valley Railroad’s shop building for someone standing on 600 West.
Then came his request to Heber City.
“I’ve met with (Planning Director) Tony Kohler and started at least the conversation and wanted to come here and ask Heber City to consider a conditional use permit or whatever might be required so that we could someday show the sign,” Nelson said. “I think we will have the construction of the letters, the restoration of the letters, done this year before the end of the year, but the coach storage building won’t be done this year or next year. And so I’m not sure about the when.”
The Heber Valley Railroad, he added, doesn’t intend to light the bright letters against Heber City’s sky every night, but rather on special occasions.
“It’s a very cool historic sign, and I remind everyone that these tracks are Rio Grande tracks,” Nelson said. “These tracks were built by the Rio Grande Railroad in 1899.”
Beyond the tracks the tourist trains run on, Nelson said the company is connected with its Rio Grande roots through the paint jobs on its cars.
The company’s closed-window streamline cars sport a bumble bee paint scheme Rio Grande used in 1949, and its other Pullman green cars reflect what Rio Grande and many other railroads used in the ’20s and ’30s.
“We have several Rio Grande cars that we already own. We have a Rio Grande diesel,” Nelson said.
The project will cost $100,000. So far, the Heber Valley Railroad has received a grant from the Utah Department of Transportation for about a fifth of that.
Ostergaard was slightly concerned that the council’s decision to allow the sign could set precedence contrary to the city’s current ordinance, but Funk assured him the city could approve the sign through a legislative agreement to make sure that wouldn’t happen.
Nelson also informed the councilors that the railway is looking to begin extending a platform near the southwest corner of the crossing of 600 West and 300 South by the railroad station so it will stretch all the way to the intersection. While he didn’t believe he needed any permits or permissions from Heber City for the project, he did say it would be helpful if the company was able to also build a switch in the area with a track that would cross 300 South.
Nelson said had several conversations with representatives from local governments about the project. So far his search hasn’t shown who definitively owns the specific land and right-of-ways the project will use.
“Would we have to do — and this may be a question for (city engineer Russel Funk) — any signage, blinking lights saying train and stuff like that?” Councilor Sid Ostergaard asked.
Funk said there would definitely at least need to be signs.
Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco said she thought the project would be a good opportunity to support the railroad.
“I think it’s fine as long as it’s not a parking place for old box cars,” Councilor Mike Johnston said.
Nelson assured him the track wouldn’t be.
The railroad plays a significant role in bringing tourists to Heber Valley. According to Nelson, it carried about 135,000 passengers on 545 trains just last year.