112 replies to this topic

[Dude]

I've sent an e-mail, and asked all my friends on FB to do so, to all the BOS and have gotten a Thank You reply from one.

Perhaps someone could write an opinion piece asking the Mountain Democrat, or other local papers as well, to bring this to the attention of more voting public especially since it appears the majority would want dual use.

Mountain Democrat: mtdemo@mtdemocrat.net

I'd do it myself but it's obvious from this thread that *you* are much more knowledgeable.

[mrdavex]

Some updated info about this on the Telegraph:

http://folsomtelegra..._type=&town_id=

[Dude]

I feel our best bet is to get more of our types involved, the ones that DON'T come to myfolsom.com or notice the activities along the rails on weekends. We need to seriously get the word out and fast.

[Dude]

We could make this a notable Gateway to The Gold Country.

[Rich_T]

As a newcomer just finding out about it all, to me it seems like the rail folks are fully supporting dual use and the bike folks are being the difficult ones that don't want to cooperate.

I read about this in the Telegraph a while back, and have not kept up - so I'm a newcomer to the topic as well. Since cities do not have extra money to spend, how about we just do nothing, and leave the overgrown rail as a silent testimony of how people can't get along. The cost of such an approach will be, um, zero. Meanwhile, cyclists have plenty of roads and trails already, and know how to use them. And if the rail supporters - or cyclists - can manage to privately fund the entire deal, then they can go for it.

[Dude]

There's no ignoring it, it must and will be decided on soon.

Why saving those rails is a good idea per PSVRR!
NOTE the funding per #7.

• To preserve the rich railroad history and heritage of Folsom, Latrobe, Shingle Springs, El Dorado, and Placerville as a singular community.
• To allow visitors (residents, school children and out of town guests) the opportunity to experience living history by riding the train!
• A heritage railway will bring visitors, boosting the local economy.
• The proposed section of track to be removed is the MOST BEAUTIFUL SECTION!!! Removing it could seriously impact the potentially high number of visitors this rail line could bring into our community!
• A trail can be built alongside the rails in the rail corridor ( i.e. "Rails WITH Trails") ; there are plenty of examples of this around the country!
• A "Rails WITH Trails" layout does work well. Folsom is a prime example!
• Funding for the trains comes completely from private donations. Funding for the "trails only" campaign comes from the taxpayers. In this time of recession, an excursion train offers not only the potential for city income, close affordable entertainment but also a sense of city heritage pride for its residents. The "trails only" campaign would cost residents money, with a small recreational return for a limited amount of residents, with a limited amount of seasonal use. At this time, is a "trails only" initiative really a priority?
• Once you remove the historic rails (built in 1864), they will never come back. This would be a tragedy for our community!
• More people are likely to use a bike trail if the train is there; The "Rails WITH Trails" proposal will allow cyclists to take the train one way with their bikes, and return via the bike trail! Remove the train, and you have just a trail...to nowhere! The train will make potential trails more accessible, more attractive and more significant!
• Because the policies and procedures to remove rails and its ties are so in depth it will be costly to accomplish and the proposed generation of funds from the "rail scrap" will not pay for both the removal of the rails and the creation of trails! This causes concern that once the vote to remove the rails happens, eventually nothing will be done with the trail and everyone will lose.

[Lindke]

A few months back I took a ride on the train. I was very impressed how well organized the Non profit Train group has been. Much impressed when they told me the story about the track wash out from the heavy rain and was able to get the volunteer labor, equipment and supplies together to repair the tracks. Even make improvement to the track section so any future flooding would provide proper drainage to the area!

There was a very rude man from El Dorado Hills on the train that had to start speaking out against the train group at the turn around point. This was very inconsiderate by the El Dorado Hills Man because everyone just donated money to have a nice stress free train ride on a Sunday afternoon. I had to hold back. I thought of speaking out only would make it worse. He finally stopped speaking and we made the journey back.

The repair to the rail line with any government involvement would have cost 1 million plus $. They did it in a fraction with volunteers from the area.

[Rich_T]

Thanks, Dude. Anything with this much debate is probably complicated, with no clean solution. But if your #7 is true, then that would decide it for me: "Funding for the trains comes completely from private donations. Funding for the "trails only" campaign comes from the taxpayers."

I think #9 is a good selling point.

I think #4 is wrong, because others have been writing that you can't put a bike trail the whole way because of terrain and bridges. To have a complete trail, you would need to replace the rail at key spots, and that would make this a "trail OR train" proposition, unless new cyclist bridges were built, and new passes created. Then again, I haven't seen the actual places involved, so I don't know.

However, to settle the matter, I would return to #7. Again, if true, then that would leave us with an interesting rail line that would probably get plenty of action on the weekends for most of the year, and would enable cyclists to be dropped off (#9). During the week, few people would take the train (they don't even need to run then), just as few recreational cyclists would use that trail during the week.

I hope this gets decided soon, and that the deciders consider the economics. I personally do not believe that either the train or trail approach will produce a noticeable multiplier effect on the local economy, and this shouldn't end up as a taxpayer-funded charity.

[Dude]

Hi Rich_T,

Thanks! I pasted that directly from their page at: https://www.facebook.com/psvrr. If there, look under the "Like" & "Message" buttons for "Notes". Click it and you'll see it. I don't see any reason to doubt what they say but do also realize that it's probably not set-in-stone. Please do spread the word outside of MyFolsom.com and hit 'em up for any more details at:

Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad (PSVRR)
1310 Bidwell Street
Folsom, CA 95630
Phone 1 (916) 990-3653
Email info@psvrr.org
Website http://www.psvrr.org

[eVader]

For the "what trains?" question, you are right to ask about "trains" or at least in the sense of a engine and cars. The local railroad enthusiasts group has been running various train equipment up and down the tracks for quite some time.

I wished the light rail hadn't chopped through the historical rail lines as it enters the Sutter St area. How cool would it be to ride from the old turntable in the historical part of Folsom up to Placerville to visit wineries or Apple Hill?

[4thgenFolsomite]

For the "what trains?" question, you are right to ask about "trains" or at least in the sense of a engine and cars. The local railroad enthusiasts group has been running various train equipment up and down the tracks for quite some time.

I wished the light rail hadn't chopped through the historical rail lines as it enters the Sutter St area. How cool would it be to ride from the old turntable in the historical part of Folsom up to Placerville to visit wineries or Apple Hill?

I thought the rails were still in place, but set below grade. Aren't they there?

[SunshineServices]

I thought the rails were still in place, but set below grade. Aren't they there?

Still there.

[Dude]

I'm waiting to take a drive out to the crossing where Light Rail enters the end of the line to see exactly what you're talking about. It would be real sweet to include the turn about

Note that the line we are trying to save is between Folsom and Placerville, where it exits one city and enters the other.

[Carl G]

I'm waiting to take a drive out to the crossing where Light Rail enters the end of the line to see exactly what you're talking about. It would be real sweet to include the turn about

Note that the line we are trying to save is between Folsom and Placerville, where it exits one city and enters the other.

When I spoke with Eric from PSVRR several years ago, we discussed the hope to one day run the excursion train all the way to Old Folsom. I'm not sure where that stands now, but it would be a very nice place to start.

[Dude]

Absolutely!

The last I checked the Mountain Democrat I saw this story mentioned a year ago so I suggested they run a story on it again but have not heard a thing but haven't been back to see any new activity.