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When I was a boy, in the early 1950's, my Dad and Grandfather were in the mining business near Spring Lake, Utah. For road maintenance, they purchased and used an old Adams Leaning Wheel #7. When I was 6 or 7, Grandpa couldn't drive the Willies Jeep while pulling the grader up the switchback mine road because of an accident. Dad asked me if I thought I could learn how to operate the grader and with some patience and good direction on his part, he taught me how to operate all the wheels and before I knew it, I was aboard operating that big old machine.
Times passed, Grandpa and Dad grew old and passed on. Equipment began walking away from the claims and then the grader disappeared from the field dad stored it on. Every time I drove by that field, I wished the grader would be back so I could play with it some more. Since moving to Park City, Utah, I wanted to have #7 more than ever and regretted not having stored it better so it wouldn't get stolen. I sure did want to make a lawn ornament out of it since we don't own the mine property anymore but with it gone, I only hoped that it ended up decorating someone’s yard or even better, still in use.
A few months ago I saw an old Leaning Wheel and I again wished I had dad's old #7 in my yard. A few days later an old mining acquaintance of the families called and said he wanted to buy my grader. He had found it among several old pieces of equipment on a hillside. The owner of the property said she had it stored with all the other junk to keep hooligans from carting it off. Said it belonged to the Bullock’s and that she wouldn't let anyone else have it.
You can imagine how happy I was to find out that the grader was still there on the ranch after all. "Heavens no, I wont sell it," I said, "but if you get it up to my house, I'll give you the old EIMCO Locomotive you've been trying to get off me for so many years." I also wanted that old mining rail tram but it was a matter of getting it out of a caved in mine. The old miner had been after that compressed air driven mine tram for a many years and was so excited about the prospect of having it as a yard display, within a week, he had that tram in his yard and the grader was in mine.
Well, I'm sure glad that I continued to wish that I still had old #7, because within no time at all, it was sitting here at home in a real nice spot, looking out over beautiful snow covered mountains. I feel so much more content now that #7 came home. Folks say never give up on your dreams and never quit wishing. I'm one of them.