Photo by Footwarrior, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation, Inc.
Upcoming Events
About Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation, Inc.
Golden, CO museum with regular Saturday diesel-electric train rides, Sunday Galloping Goose rides, Day Out With Thomas, and The Polar Express.
📍 GOLDEN, CO 80392
History
Known to visitors as the Colorado Railroad Museum, this non-profit was established in 1959 to preserve a record of Colorado's flamboyant railroad era — above all the state's pioneering narrow-gauge mountain railroads. The museum occupies 19.5 acres along the former Colorado and Southern Railway line in Golden, at the point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains. Its main building is a replica of an 1880s-style railroad depot, housing original photographs by pioneer photographers William Henry Jackson and Louis Charles McClure, paintings by Howard L. Fogg, Otto Kuhler, and Ted Rose, and a bay-window recreation of a depot telegrapher's office complete with a working telegraph sounder. The lower level holds an exhibition hall for seasonal and traveling railroading displays plus the Denver HO Model Railroad Club's operating 'Denver and Western' layout, while the Robert W. Richardson Library preserves more than 10,000 rare historic photographs along with timetables, maps, employee records, and engineering documents about Colorado railroads.
The Trains
Over 100 historic narrow- and standard-gauge locomotives and cars are displayed outdoors on tracks fitted with a rare three-way stub switch, dual-gauge track and switches, and century-old switch stands; trains use a one-third-mile oval of three-foot-gauge track on operating days. A roster anchor is former Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 683, a coal-burning 2-8-0 Consolidation built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1890 and the only surviving standard-gauge steam locomotive from that railroad. It shares the grounds with Rio Grande Southern Galloping Geese Nos. 2, 6, and 7, a West Side Lumber Company Shay, a Colorado & Southern rotary snowplow, and D&RGW diesels including F9 A and B units, a GP30, and an SD40T-2 donated in 2018. Riders can catch regular Saturday diesel-powered trains, Sunday Galloping Goose runs, narrow-gauge steam on special 'Steam Up' event days, plus Day Out With Thomas and The Polar Express.
Nearby
Where to Stay
Bookings made through this map support usatrainrides at no extra cost to you.
More Railroading Nearby
Train Ride
Greenfield Village Railroad Junction
Dearborn, MI
26 mi away →
Museum
Michigan Transit Museum
Mount Clemens, MI
30 mi away →
Train Ride
Durand Railroad Days
Durand, MI
32 mi away →
Train Ride
Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad
Flint, MI
33 mi away →
Attraction
Saline Railroad Depot
Saline, MI
35 mi away →
Train Ride
Flushing Area Historical Society
Flushing, MI
36 mi away →
Rent a Car
Most heritage railroads sit well off the interstate. Picking up a rental at the nearest airport is usually the easiest way in.
Compare rentals on Discover Cars →Bookings made through this link support usatrainrides at no extra cost to you.
Book tours & activities near GOLDEN
Pre-book guided tours and things to do around the area.
Bookings made through these links support usatrainrides at no extra cost to you.
More in Colorado
All train rides in Colorado →Reviews
0✍ Write a Review
Get Event Alerts
Never miss an event at Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation, Inc..