Summer 15

Price Canyon, just before Helper, UT; the large gap on the right side of the picture is US-6. The power plant in the lower middle portion of the picture is referred to both as “Carbon Power Plant” and “Castle Gate Power Plant”. It was coal-fired and considered to be a comparatively small power plant. The plant units opened in 1954 and 1957, the plant was shut down in April, 2015. Per the article linked below, the plant was retired comparatively early because its location in the canyon left too little room for installation of filtration equipment needed to reduce mercury emissions. www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56919729-78/coal-power-carbon-plant.html.csp

In keeping with this trip's honoring of monuments that don't really work, here and the next picture are two. Both are well-crafted, but are on the edge of a pull-off on a dangerous curve with heavy and fast traffic. The pull-off itself is wide, but it looked to mainly be a place for trucks to stop. This monument is for the Castle Gate mine disaster, one of the largest mine disasters in the U.S., where 171 men were killed (all of the men in the mine plus one rescuer) from a series of three explosions related to improper damping of coal dust. To compound the disaster, due to decreased demand at the time, the mine had just recently laid off many of the unmarried miners and miners without dependents, thus the disaster took a heavy toll on fathers and families Due to the angle of the sun, this isn't a particular good picture, but looking at a larger version of it will indicate the extensive detail of faces and mine equipment on the memorial. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Gate_Mine_disaster

A very well-designed plaque with good detail, praising the interaction between management and unions in building and operating the Carbon Power Plant (now closed). Like the memorial described in the adjacent photo, this is next to a pull-off that is dangerous to access due to the speed and density of traffic on the highway.

Opposite the pull-off and the memorials (adjacent pictures), a cut portion of the hillside with veins of coal, the historic economic force of the area.

Former DRGW (Denver and Rio Grande Western) tracks, now UP, between Price and Helper, UT.

LaSalle Lounge sign, Helper, UT.

LaSalle Hotel building, Helper, UT.

The Strand theater in Helper, UT was built in 1922 and stopped showing movies in 1955. From there the information gets confusing -- the theater comes up in multiple websites with conflicting information. Note also the rusted sign on top of the building past it, which is for the Hillcreast Hotel. The Hillcrest is behind the Strand is now apartments.

Downtown Helper, UT. A number of the buildings in the old downtown area had been converted into eateries and shops for tourists, probably coming in from the greater Salt Lake area (roughly 110 miles).

Amtrak stop in Helper. The Amtrak California Zephyr follows the DRGW route from Salt Lake to Denver and stops in Helper. The ride through nearby canyons would probably be spectacular, but the train runs through the area at night.

Note the mannequins in the upper windows of the building just to the left of center. The Piggly Wiggly sign looks original, but is questionable. I couldn't find any documentation that the grocery store chain of that name was ever in the west and the current chain by that name definitely isn't.

Helper Civic Auditorium, a stunning example of streamline moderne architecture, built in 1937 with funding from the Works Project Administration (New Deal) (see plaque in adjacent picture).

Plaque documenting the history of the Helper Civic Auditorium.

Detail of the design of the Helper Civic Auditorium.

The Helper Civic Auditorium, with "Big John" on the right side.

As part of an effort to make Helper a tourist destination, the citizens thought it appropriate to have a more visible means of acknowledging the history of coal in the area, thus "Big John". Big John is 18 feet tall, made of fiberglass by International Fiberglass (a boat maker) in Venice, CA in 1964. As the plaque notes, he not only commemorates the role of coal in the area, but also the lives of all of those who have died in the mines.

Former Denver and Rio Grande Western spreader just behind downtown Helper. Don't know what a 'spreader' is, but from it's looks it seemed to be related to snow removal. Interesting also was the old and badly worn Civil Defense sign. The name of the town comes from the fact that it was the location where 'helper' engines were connected to trains preparing to climb or descend the Wasatch Plateau.

I've no idea why there's a cross and bench on a concrete pad overlooking the town, particularly since the dominant religion is Mormon and Mormons don't use a cross in their services.