Category: News

There have been a lot of questions about when we will operate again. We are happy to announce we have signed a new operating agreement with the agency that manages the line. We have a lot of work to do before we can start running trains. Brush cutting, crossing gate replacement and track work.  Our plan is to get back to regular runs sometime in the fall and do our normal holiday motor car rides. Pumpkin and Christmas.

We are looking for help getting back to normal operations. If you have ever thought about volunteering, we sure could use your help. We need people that want to help with the track and brush work and then train operations. Keep an eye out for announcements for training coming up both book and hands on. Or signup on our web page for our mailing list.

Rail Motorcar Trip from Oak Station to Willow Springs (about 60-90 minutes total)

First three weekends in October!

Join us for a short 10 minute ride on a scenic trip down to our Pumpkin Patch at Willow Springs! Nestled in the woods next to beautiful Willow Creek right in the middle of Folsom, the Whistlestop is full of adventure for young and old alike. Spend some time picking out a Pumpkin, and enjoy various activities and refreshments before your family returns to the station. Each Childs ticket includes one Pumpkin.

Tickets on sale now at www.psvrr.org

The Folsom City Council meeting agenda item #10 was to give the recommendation to the Sacramento-Placerville Transportation Corridor Joint Powers Authority (SPTC-JPA) This will help direct the JPTC-JPA on how to craft the operating license. The Folsom City Council voted 5 – 0 to support PSVRR and directed staff to work with us to resolve the crossings and track issues. We still have some hurdles with the Capital SouthEast Connector JPA. But we are very confident that we can work with the City and County of Sacramento to work out all issues.

From Folsom Times :

Before a near-full City Hall chambers, members of the Folsom City Council unanimously voted to recommend an operating license renewal of a seven year term to the PSVRR. The renewal is ultimately issued by the Sacramento Placerville Transportation Corridor Joint Powers Authority (JPA), which included the City of Folsom, Sacramento County, El Dorado County and Sacramento Regional Transit.

The PSVRR rail excursions for the public take place on portions of the historic Southern Pacific Railroad’s “Placerville Branch.” The segment is described by the PSVRR as, “a scenic gem that has wound through Sacramento and El Dorado Counties for over 160 years.” The excursions are in addition to a number of shorter rail events that take place in the heart of the city as well, such as the annual Pumpkin Patch Flyer train, Santa’s Whistle Stop, and others, all of which are operational fundraisers for the 501 (c)3 non-profit organization. The shorter events are not subject to the operating license that was in question recently, but are not events in which the organization can operate on alone when it comes fundraising and finances in order to continue being self-sustained as they have been.

If you would like to watch the Folsom City Council meeting you can see it here and fast forward to item 10 on the agenda it is 1 hour 10 minutes into the meeting or click on the agenda below the video.

Where do we go from here?

We will work with the City of Folsom Staff, Connector staff, FRA and CPUC to work out the crossing issue. PSVRR has a history of solving these issue with no costs to the City and will continue to offer solutions. We will start operation of the full size train in the spring once we repair track damage for winter storms. We will also bring out the steam locomotive for the first time for public rides.