The planned route would run along a two-mile stretch of UTA-owned track that begins near 2200 South along the TRAX main line and runs east into Salt Lake City's southeast quadrant.

The plan - developed by University of Utah engineering students at the behest of Salt Lake City entrepreneur Doug White - calls for seven stations to serve the slow-moving trolley.

UTA officials, who also support the trolley concept for some areas of Ogden in northern Utah, believe that if White is able to raise the $5.9 million to launch the project, the trolley would be a good use of the agency's rail corridor until it launches its own light-rail extension there several years from now.

"At some point in time [UTA] might build something there, so it's a corridor in wait - and this would be a good precursor," said Michael Allegra, UTA's chief capital-development officer.

"It's a great move and [UTA] supports it," Allegra said. "There are lots of issues [to resolve], but we have offered [the corridor] to the private sector, in this case Doug."

Meanwhile, U. engineering students and their faculty estimate that 450 people a day would ride the trolley. But White believes that number is low. He predicts the trolley would draw tourists and serve more than a thousand people a day.

The class of engineering students estimated that, to meet safety standards, 65 percent of the track along the corridor would have to be replaced. The old tracks once served a railroad that made its way to Park City through Parleys Canyon. That service was terminated decades ago, and the line was used to deliver freight to the numerous furniture stores in Sugar House.

"I use to live near the Sugar House tracks and I use to always wonder why it wasn't used for anything," said White. "It's no longer a concept or a dream; it's now a plan. I will no longer be called a dreamer but a planner."

The proposed trolley - a specific model has yet to be chosen - would be similar to the trolleys that, until the late 1930s, plied Salt Lake City streets. According to a Utah tourism Web site, the last street car line was discontinued in 1941, and miles of track were ripped out decades ago to make room for more automobile lanes.

The engineering students may have created the initial plan. But White hasn't stopped there. He says that this fall, a Westminster College class in Salt Lake City will begin creating a business plan for the project. And, he believes, when the Legislature meets in January, he will be ready to present the project for state-funding consideration.

To get that funding, White will need the aid of a friend, Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City.

When White first approached Davis in 1999 about a valley trolley system, he said Davis said to him, "What about Sugar House?" It was then that the idea of adding a trolley line through that part of Salt Lake City began.

"I loved the idea when Doug first told me of it and I still do," Davis said. "Am I ready to move forward? First I need to see the business plan and the safety plan."

UTA's corridor runs through a warehouse area - not the kind of place that likely would draw tourist interest. But some see a bigger picture.

"The private sector will come in and develop along it once it starts to look like a real project," predicted D.J. Baxter, senior adviser to Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson.

"As it gains more detail and Doug puts flesh on the project, there will be more community and political excitement."

mburckhalter@sltrib.com

Suggested stops

U. of U. engineering students propose that the Sugar House trolley line use seven stops. They would be located 500 feet south of the 2100 South TRAX station, two at State Street, one at 400 East, two at 700 East, and one at 1000 East. The Sugar House line would have two trolleys and a new 4,800 square-foot maintenance center at 900 East.