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 Steam locomotive D&RGW #683 at a mock-up train station. | |
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| Established | 1959 |
|---|---|
| Location | 17155 W 44th Ave Golden, Colorado 80403 |
| Type | Railroad Museum |
| Director | Paul Hammond |
| Public transit access | None |
| Website | coloradorailroadmuseum |
TheColorado Railroad Museum is anon-profitrailroad museum. The museum is located along the formerColorado and Southern Railway line on 19.5 acres (7.9 ha)[1] at a point whereClear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains inGolden,Colorado.
The museum was established in 1959 to preserve a record ofColorado's flamboyant railroad era, particularly the state's pioneeringnarrow-gauge mountain railroads.
The museum building is a replica of an 1880s-stylerailroad depot. Exhibits feature original photographs by pioneer photographers such asWilliam Henry Jackson and Louis Charles McClure, as well as paintings byHoward L Fogg,Otto Kuhler, Ted Rose and other artists. Locomotives and railroad cars modeled in theone inch scale by Herb Votaw are also displayed. A bay window contains a reconstructed depot telegrapher's office, complete with a workingtelegraph 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" operatingHO and HOn3 scale model train layout that represent Colorado's rail history in miniature.
TheRobert W. Richardson Library houses over 10,000 rare historic photographs, along with other reference materials such as timetables, maps, employee records and engineering documents about Colorado railroads.
The museum has a large collection of3 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 and Rio Grande Western Railroad No. 683, a coal-burning2-8-0 "Consolidation" typesteam locomotive built by theBaldwin Locomotive Works in 1890, builders number 11207. It is the only surviving4 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 rarethree-waystub switch,dual gauge track and switches and century-old switch stands. These tracks hold over 100 historic narrow and standard gauge locomotives and cars. The1⁄3 mile (0.54 km) oval of3 ft (914 mm) gauge track is used by trains on operating days.
The museum's roster contains the following notable pieces of rolling stock:[2]
| Name | Year built | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad No. 5629 | 1940 | Display | Chicago, Burlington & Quincy or Burlington Route No. 5629 is a 4-8-4 "Northern" typeO-5B classstandard gauge, oil-fired, steam locomotive built by the railroad in theirWest Burlington, Iowa shops. Retired in 1956 in Lincoln, Nebraska, the locomotive came to the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1963, and remains the largest steam locomotive in the museum. It is one of four surviving Burlington Route Northerns.[3] |
| Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 491 | 1928 | Operational | Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad No. 491 is a 2-8-2Rio Grande class K-37 "Mikado" typenarrow-gauge steam locomotive, one of 10 built by the D&RGW itself at its Burnham shops in Denver. It was placed on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in 2000. It was then restored to operating condition in August 2014. No. 491 is still currently operational at the museum as of 2022. |
| Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 346 | July 1881 | Out of Service | D&RGW No. 346 (originally numbered D&RG 406) is aRio Grande class C-19 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by theBaldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No. 346 is currently undergoing a rebuild as of 2022. |
| Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 318 | 1896 | Display | D&RGW No. 318 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by Baldwin. Built for theFlorence and Cripple Creek Railroad as #8 "Goldfield", sold to the D&RG in 1917 as their No. 428, and later renumbered as 318 in 1921. |
| Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway No. 1 | 1890 | Display | Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway No. 1 is a0-4-2cog railway steam locomotive built by Baldwin. Originally named "John Hulbert", No. 1 operated on thePikes Peak Cog Railway from 1891 into the 1960s. No. 1 was rebuilt as aVauclain compound and numbered #1 in 3/1893. |
| Rio Grande Southern No. 20 | 1899 | Operational | Rio Grande Southern No. 20 is a 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" type narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by theSchenectady Locomotive Works of Schenectady, New York. This locomotive has recently been restored to operating condition as of 2021. 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. No. 20 is currently operational as of May 2022.[4] |
| Denver Leadville & Gunnison No. 191 | 1880 | Display | Denver Leadville & Gunnison No. 191 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. Originally built asDenver, South Park and Pacific Railroad No. 51, renumbered No. 191 with the DSP&P's subsequent reorganization into theDenver, Leadville and Gunnison Railroad, renumbered again to No. 31 on theColorado and Southern Railway, and was later sold to the Edward Hines Lumber Company, and again to A. A. Bigelow Lumber Co. ofWashburn, Wisconsin, where it was purchased in 1904 by the Robbins Railroad Company, operating as Thunder Lake Lumber Company No. 7.[5] No. 191 was purchased by the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1973 and returned to its home state, later receiving a cosmetic restoration for public display. Currently lettered for the Denver Leadville & Gunnison Railroad, No. 191 is the oldest locomotive in the state of Colorado. |
| Denver & Rio Grande Western No. 683 | 1890 | Display | D&RGW No. 683 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type standard gauge steam Locomotive. No. 683 entered service as the Rio Grande completed its very first standard gauge line between Denver and Salt Lake City. It was retired in 1955 and is the last surviving standard gauge locomotive from the Denver and Rio Grande Western.[6] |
39°46′19″N105°11′35″W / 39.771875°N 105.192969444°W /39.771875; -105.192969444
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