All aboard! Historical locomotive arrives in Folsom

Friday morning was a big day for volunteers at the Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad with the arrival of the Santa Cruz Portland Cement #2 locomotive. Folsom will be the new home of this special engine for the next 15-years. Built in 1909 by H. K. Porter, the engine served Santa Cruz Portland Cement Co. in Davenport, as well as Bechtel Kaiser Rock Co. in Oroville. Known as "The Chiggen," the locomotive was used as a billboard for a fried chicken restaurant for over 30 years in Stockton before it was purchased by Efstathios Pappas in 2006 and rebuilding began. In 2014, the engine pulled excursion passenger trains at Niles Canyon Railway, Roaring Camp Railroads and at the Northwest Railway Museum. The locomotive is set to begin excursion service in 2020. Late last year, a contract was signed between P&SVRR and the locomotive's owner, Efstathios Pappas, to lease the engine to the railroad to utilize to help keep the history of the rails alive in the Folsom region. The engine will be utilized for various PSVRR events such as excursion tours. A licensed operator of 15 miles of rail from Folsom Boulevard to the town of Latrobe, P&SVRR will use this locomotive to haul more passengers."The steam engine will be the motive power for our train and will be hauling passengers," said PSVRR President Jim Harville "We'll be capable of hauling longer trains, and it will allow us to serve more passengers and provide a richer historical experience." Central Folsom currently has 15 miles of rail as well as access to an additional 20 miles of track between Latrobe and Placerville that still remains. "Our hope is to connect our program to the El Dorado Western Railroad, which is operated by the El Dorado County Historical Museum," Harville said. Jerry Bernau, president of Bernau Development Corp, generously donated the cost of transporting this locomotive from its former residence in Washington state to Folsom. The trek came to an end Friday morning, as many onlookers along Highway 50 were taken by the massive locomotive making its way to town on a large lowbed hauler. "I would like to thank the City of Folsom for their support, thank Jerry Bernau for his gracious offer to provide the transportation for the steam locomotive, and we look forward to the many years providing history education and fun to the community," Harville said.The historic Placerville branch line last saw a steam locomotive on the tracks in 1957 during an excursion originating in Oakland, now 62 years ago. Now that the locomotive has been offloaded, it will go through a series of inspections and maintenance procedures. At this time the PSVRR thanks all of the many donors to their organization who continue to make their efforts to keep history alive possible. They invite the public to follow their website at www.psvrr.orgfor future announcements of events and excursions. The Folsom Telegraph will have additional coverage, including photos of Friday's event in their upcoming edition.