Colorado Railroad Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1959 |
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| Location | 17155 W 44th Ave Golden, Colorado 80403 |
| Type | railroad museum |
| Public transit access | none |
The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum. The museum is located on 15 acres (6.1 ha) at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado.
The museum was established in 1959 to preserve a record of Colorado's flamboyant railroad era, particularly the state's pioneering narrow-gauge mountain railroads.
Facilities
The museum building is a replica of an 1880s-style railroad depot. Exhibits feature original photographs by pioneer photographers such as William Henry Jackson and Louis Charles McClure, as well as paintings by Howard L Fogg, Otto Kuhler, Ted Rose and other artists. Locomotives and railroad cars modeled in the one inch scale by Herb Votaw are also displayed. A bay window contains a reconstructed depot telegrapher's office, complete with a working telegraph sounder.
The lower level of the museum building contains an exhibition hall which features seasonal and traveling displays on railroading history. The lower level also contains the Denver HO Model Railroad Club's "Denver and Western" operating HO and HOn3 scale model train layout that represent Colorado's rail history in miniature.
The Robert W. Richardson Library houses over 10,000 rare historic photographs, Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway No. 683 was built in 1890 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and spent much of his time, pulling coal trains in the eastern United States it was donated to the Colorado Railroad Museum on July 9, 1982.
Collection
The museum has a large collection of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge rolling stock and provides narrow-gauge train rides on special event days known as "Steam Up days".
The museum also has ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad No. 683, a coal burning 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1890, builders number 11207. It is the only surviving 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge steam locomotive from the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
All of the railroad equipment is displayed outdoors. Display tracks are complete with a rare three-way stub switch, dual gauge track and switches, and century-old switch stands. These tracks hold over 100 historic narrow and standard gauge locomotives and cars. The 1⁄3 mile (0.54 km) oval of 3 ft (914 mm) gauge track is used by trains on operating days.
The museum's roster contains the following notable pieces of rolling stock:
| Name | Year built | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad No. 5629 | 1940 | Chicago, Burlington & Quincy or Burlington Route 5629 is a 4-8-4 "Northern" type O-5B class steam locomotive built by the railroad in their West Burlington, Iowa shops in 1940. Retired in 1956 in Lincoln, Nebraska, the locomotive came to the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1963. It is one of four surviving Burlington Route "Northerns". |
| Rio Grande 491 | 1902 | Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad No. 491 is a 2-8-2 "Mikado" type narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1902. It was placed on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in 2000. It was then restored to operating condition in August 2014 and is currently the largest operating narrow gauge engine in the Western hemisphere. No. 491 is still currently operational at the museum as of 2020. |
| Rio Grande 346 | July 1881 | Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad No. 346 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 1881. Also, 346 has its very own class sister the locomotive number 318. No. 346 is still currently operational at the museum as of 2020. |
| Rio Grande 318 | 1881 | |
| Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway no 1 | 1890 | |
| Rio Grande Southern 20 | 1899 | Rio Grande Southern No. 20 is a 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" type narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works of Schenectady, New York in 1899. This locomotive has recently been restored to operating condition as of 2020. No. 20 made its first run under its own power for the first time on July 2, 2020 and made its public debut at the Colorado Railroad Museum on August 1, 2020. |
| Colorado and Southern 191 | 1880 |
Diesel locomotives
- Denver & Rio Grande Western F7A 5771 & F7B 5762
- Denver & Rio Grande Western SD40T-2 5401. Donated to the museum in 2018.
Passenger cars
- Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Observation Car Navajo
- Chicago Burlington & Quincy Business Car No. 96
- Colorado Midland Observation Car No. 111
- Denver & Rio Grande Western Coach No. 284
- Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway Post Office Car No. 60
- Union Pacific Coach No. 5442
- Union Pacific Diner No. 4801
Special equipment
- Chicago Burlington & Quincy snow plow No. 205065
- Colorado & Southern rotary snow plow No. 99201
- Rio Grande Southern "Galloping Goose" No. 2
- Rio Grande Southern "Galloping Goose" No. 6
- Rio Grande Southern "Galloping Goose" No. 7
