FOLSOM, Calif. — To say Jim Harville likes historic trains and riding in them is an understatement.

"It's thrilling," he remarked, riding on a train built in 1954.

Harville is the president of the non-profit Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad Association, PSVRR for short, which takes people on historic trains out of Folsom into the Sierra foothills. 

He said you can't talk about Folsom's history without talking about trains.

"This history goes back just in this area, over 160 years," Harville said. "The set of the stretch of track that we're standing next to right now was originally laid down in the 1860s during the Civil War."

Harville noted that the PSVRR provides a tactile history lesson for the community but said the association and the trains are in jeopardy of going away.

A future expansion of a two-lane road into a four-lane corridor in Folsom that crisscrosses the tracks could mean that their current permit to run within the city of Folsom isn't renewed by the governing body made up of several counties, including Folsom.

The type and cost of making a safe crossing are the big issue.

"It's a question of is a world class railroad attraction what the public wants? Harville said. "Does Folsom want to honor their railroad history by supporting this program?"

Sarah Aquino, Folsom's vice mayor, said she loves the city's locomotive history.

She represents the county on the rail lines governing body and said the Folsom city council will soon discuss whether they will recommend the permit be renewed to the governing body.

Two safe crossing options are an at-grade, i.e., an at-street level crossing system, or creating an overpass.

Aquino said the cheaper option of an at-grade crossing is not guaranteed to be signed off on by the California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees state railroad crossing construction.

And she is still determining if the high cost of an overpass is fiscally responsible.

"It seems like spending tens of millions of dollars for to go over, you know, railroad tracks that are only used occasionally by an excursion train does not seem like a very responsible use of taxpayer money," Aquino said.

Harville explained how keeping history alive for future generations is an important issue.

"When we have these families come out and you see these kids whose faces light up," he said. "Yeah, it makes. It makes all the other challenges worthwhile."

He added that, just like the locomotive haulers of old, he, too, is in it for the long haul.