Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and other dignitaries will gather for the start of a three-day grand opening that will include pioneer re-enactors, 46 period buildings and replica models of the 19th century locomotives Jupiter and Union Pacific 119. The modified pick-up truck "trains" will re-enact the historic 1869 meeting at Promontory that completed the transcontinental railroad.

As part of the park's marketing campaign, one of the trams left St. George and rolled the length of U.S. 89 north to Salt Lake City, where it is to meet the other engine that came south from Logan.

Re-enacting the Promontory Summit event in Salt Lake City has angered amateur historians and northern Utah tourism boosters who annually celebrate the locomotives' historic meeting at the actual site 32 miles west of Brigham City.

The heritage park in the mouth of Emigration Canyon has been financially suffering for years due to management and attendance problems. Last year, the Legislature had to give the park a $2 million bail-out to keep the gates open. Republican leaders then gave home developer Ellis Ivory the job of reducing the park's dependence on tax money.

Ivory first attempted to stabilize finances by commercially developing parts of the park. But after a public outcry last month beat back his scheme to lease a dozen acres of the park for an office building, he has focused on attracting more visitors, more donors and more tax funding.

Success will require raising the profile of the living-history park that celebrates Mormon settlement of the Salt Lake Valley.