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The Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado 7/8/2009

I parked at the Colorado Railroad Museum and went inside to get into the Museum then after I was taken care, returned outside to explore and photograph the museum's vast collection.

Robert W. Richardson and Cornelius W. Hauck opened the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1959. Then, and now, our mission is dedicated to preserving for future generations a tangible record of Colorado's dynamic railroad era and particularly its pioneering, narrow gauge mountain railroads.

In 1964, the nonprofit Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation was formed to assume ownership and operation of the Museum.

In the late 1940s when Colorado's narrow gauge railroad companies started going out of business, Robert W. Richardson began collecting rolling stock, railway records, and other pieces of equipment in an effort to preserve Colorado history. Bob's collection quickly outgrew the available space at his Museum in Alamosa, Colorado and in 1958, with the help of his friend Cornelius Hauck, Richardson moved the Museum to Golden.

Many Colorado railroad companies closed down in the late 1940s and 1950s, when falling ore prices and increasing operating expenses made business unprofitable. The Uintah Railway Company closed in 1939, the Silverton Northern in 1942, the Rio Grande Junction in 1941, the Midland Terminal in 1949 and the Rio Grande Southern in 1951.

Once in Golden, Richardson built a replica narrow gauge railroad station to serve as the main Museum building. With the help of volunteers he started laying track for 50 pieces of equipment and built a motel to help fund the Museum. The Iron Horse Motel was originally located where the roundhouse now sits.

With the help of Museum trustee Cornelius Hauck, volunteers and railfans, Bob Richardson was able to purchase over twenty pieces of full-size rolling stock during this period. This included the Bob & Julie Shank collection from Durango, which brought in the rare and unique narrow gauge motor cars Geese Nos. 6 & 7. Encouraging its volunteer tradition, the Museum allowed volunteers to actively restore collection pieces.

Although Museum founder Bob Richardson retired in 1991, his legacy was just starting to grow. Recognizing the need to invest in infrastructure, the Board of Trustees started taking major financial steps to improve and expand the Museum. After hiring permanent full-time staff, the Museum built the Robert W. Richardson Railroad library in 1997, finished the track loop in 1999 and completed the roundhouse and turntable in 2000.

The Museum has experienced many positive changes since 2000. Interpretive signs have been installed around the property, the downstairs of the Museum has been remodeled into a temporary exhibit venue, restoration efforts continue at a renewed pace and the Museum continues to add historic pieces to its collection.

Right outside the door across from the Richardson Library is a steam train display.

Denver and Rio Grande 2-8-0 683 built by Baldwin in 1890 as 583. When the Denver and Rio Grande was taken over by the newly formed Denver & Rio Grande Western, it was renumbered 683. It was eventually replaced in main line service by larger locomotives and was last used by the railroad as a switcher in Salida.

In 1947, the locomotive was sold to the San Luis Valley Southern Railway Company in Blanca, Colorado where it was re-numbered 106 and was used until 1956. This was was a narrow gauge shortline chartered in 1909 to build south from the Denver and Rio Grande's standard gauge La Veta Pass line at Blanca to Taos, New Mexico. The line never made it that far, however, ending at Jaroso, Colorado, just north of the New Mexico border in 1910. It hauled farm produce, fertilizer and volcanic scoria until abandoned in 1958.

This is the only surviving standard gauge Denver and Rio Grande Western steam locomotive.

Great Western Railroad combine 100 built by Wagner in 1887.

Midland Terminal Railway observation car 29, nee Colorado Midland coach 111 built by Pullman in 1887 and rebuilt into an observation car in 1905.

Route of the Vista Dome Monument that once sat in Glenwood Canyon, where the idea of this car was born while riding in the cab through the canyon.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 60 foot box car 77175 built by the railroad in 1967.

Two of the Rio Grande F-units that once pulled me aboard the Rio Grande Zephyr from Denver to Salt Lake City.

Denver and Rio Grande Western FP7A 5771 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1955. 5771 and its two B units (5772 & 5773) were also the primary power for the Rio Grande Zephyr, the last non-Amtrak long distance train in the United States after the Southern ceased running the Southern Crescent from New Orleans in 1979. After the Zephyr's demise in April 1983, the three units hauled ballast and slag.

Between December 1983 and March 1984, they powered the Denver and Rio Grande Western's Ski Train, which ran fifty-six miles from Union Station in Denver to the ski resort of Winter Park and return each day. The train was inaugurated in 1940 and climbed about 4,000 feet passing through thirty tunnels including 6.2 mile Moffat Tunnel, the highest railroad tunnel in the country. After their short stint on the Ski Train, the two units performed a little more general service and were then retired. At that time, 5571 was the last operational F unit on the Rio Grande. They were donated to the Colorado Railroad Museum by the Southern Pacific, successor to the Rio Grande in 1996.

Rio Grande F9B 5762 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1955.

American Oil 0-4-0T 1 built by American Locomotive Company in 1920. Originally built for stock, this tank engine was shipped to the Standard Oil Company of Indiana in January 1921 to work at the company's Casper, Wyoming refinery. It was transferred to the American Oil Company in 1960 and worked in Casper until 1962, when it was donated to the museum.

Colorado and Southern rotary snowplow 99201 built by Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works in 1900 as 3. It was later re-numbered 0270 and then 99201 and was converted from 36" gauge to standard gauge soon after delivery, back to 36" in 1935 and then returned to standard gauge in 1943. It was rebuilt in 1949.

Union Pacific 0-6-0 4455 built by Lima in 1920. It was sold to Monolith Portland Midwest Company in Laramie, Wyoming in 1949, who retired it in 1970 and donated it to the museum.

Denver & Salt Lake Railroad caboose 10060 built by the railroad in 1936.

Union Pacific express box car 9149 "The Challenger Merchandise Service" built by the railroad in 1939.

Union Pacific coach 5442 built by Pullman-Standard in 1950.

Santa Fe 3-2-1 lounge-observation car "Navajo" built by Budd in 1937 for the original Super Chief. It was withheld from Pullman lease in November 1957 and subsequently sold to the Intermountain Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

Denver and Rio Grande Western drop-bottom gondola 878 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Denver and Rio Grande Western 1249 built by American Car and Foundry in 1902.

Denver and Rio Grande Western 1217 built by American Car and Foundry in 1902.

Denver and Rio Grande Western business car 1 built by the railroad as a baggage car in 1879 and later rebuilt into a business car. It is lettered "Uintah Railway B-8".

Denver and Rio Grande Western coach 256, nee 12 built by Billmeyer and Small in 1876.

Denver and Rio Grande Western drop-bottom gondola 756 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Denver and Rio Grande railway post office car 6 built by Billmeyer and Small in 1880.

A Denver and Rio Grande Western steam engine tender.

Denver and Rio Grande Western 36 foot box car 13680 built by the railroad in 1895

Denver and Rio Grande Western box car S-3271 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Denver and Rio Grande Western drop-bottom gondola 836 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Open car 9 "Pendleton Mountain" built by the museum.

Open car 3 "Silver Plume" built by the museum.

Open car 15 "Grays Peak" built by the museum.

Georgetown, Leadville and Breckenridge open car 1026

The water tower and No Agua station.

Colorado & Southern caboose 1009, nee Denver South Park and Pacific 76 built by the Union Pacific in 1882. It was retired in 1942 and purchased by the museum in 1961.

Union Tank Car 88125, nee 12770 built by the company in 1907.

Colorado & Southern stock car 7064 built by American Car and Foundry in 1900.

Denver and Rio Grande Western stock car 5717 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Denver and Rio Grande Western stock car 5714 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Denver and Rio Grande Western water car 493 converted from the tender of Denver and Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 206 "Hillerton" built in 1881.

Colorado & North Western box car 1026 built by Barney and Smith in 1897.

Denver and Rio Grande Western gondola 06299 built by the railroad in 1925 from the underframe of tank car 15.

Looking down at Denver and Rio Grande Western F7A 5771.

Looking down on Midland Terminal Railway observation car 29.

The Denver Garden Railroad Society display.

A great view of things from the past.

Alpine Tunnel station.

Railway Express Agency refrigerator car 7645 built by General American in 1957.

Colorado & Southern railway post office 254 built by Standard Steel in 1922.

Coors Brewing Company SW900 C988, nee Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 550, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1957. Coors acquired it in 1981.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy observation car 96, ex. Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 90 1902, nee Chicago Burlington and Quincy B-99, built by Barney and Smith in 1886. Retired in 1962, it was sold to the Intermountain Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in Denver. The Chapter ran the car over 25,000 miles, attaching it as an excursion car to the Denver & Rio Grande, Union Pacific and other railroads. With the introduction of Amtrak, the car no longer met the mechanical standards of modern railcars and in 1972, was placed permanently on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum. In 2006, the Intermountain Chapter donated 96 to the Museum, where today it is used to entertain guests and host small meetings.

Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway 0-4-2 cog 1 built by Baldwin in 1890. During the 1930s, the railway began investing in diesel power, although 1 continued working on the grade until 1941. At some later date, it was donated to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs then in 1979, it was donated to the Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation for display at the museum.

A track gang car.

Various speeders.

Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose 0524, nee Denver and Rio Grande 25 built by the railroad in 1880.

Rio Grande Southern section car 01789 is really Denver and Rio Grande box car 3373 built by the railroad in 1887 and converted to a bunk car, then sold to Rio Grande Southern.

Denver and Rio Grande Western drop-bottom gondola 883 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Denver and Rio Grande Western flat car 6532 built by the railroad and American Car and Foundry in 1940 from a standard-gauge gondola.

Denver and Rio Grande Western gondola 1423 built by American Car and Foundry in 1902.

Denver and Rio Grande Western flat car 6732, nee Denver and Rio Grande Western 3501 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904 and rebuilt into idler flat car 6732 in 1955.

Georgetown, Breckenbridge and Leadville Railroad flat car 6215.

Denver and Rio Grande Western refrigerator car 159 built by the railroad in 1924.

Denver and Rio Grande Western refrigerator car 161 built by the railroad in 1924.

Denver and Rio Grande Western stock car 5666 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Denver and Rio Grande Western kitchen car 04255 built by the railroad from box car 4255 in 1914 and originally built in 1898.

Rockdale passenger shelter.

From this tent I received my lunch and the gentleman cooking helped move the Rio Grande F units into the museum.

The section building behind the roundhouse.

Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville 47 ton drop cab switcher 15, ex. Georgetown Loop Railroad, exx. Camino Cable and Northern, nee Railway and Land Company 15 in Hawai'i, built by General Electric in 1943 for the Railway & Land Co., in Hawaii. The Georgetown, Breckenridge & Leadville Railway was incorporated in 1880 to connect Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville. Work started at Georgetown in 1883, with a six percent grade to Silver Plume on the first stage to connect with the Denver, South Park & Pacific in Keystone.

Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville 52 ton switcher 140, nee US Gypsum 1403 built by General Electric in 1956.

Rio Grande Southen Galloping Goose 6 built in January 1934 from parts salvaged from recently scrapped Goose 1, using a Buick body, Buick-6 engine and a non-articulated frame. The railroad's early revenues came mainly from the numerous silver and gold mines near Telluride, Ophir and Rico. Hauling hundreds of tons of precious metal ores and hundreds of passengers in and out of the area made the financial condition of the railroad extraordinarily strong for its first two-and-a-half years However, the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act caused the Silver Panic of 1893 and silver prices plummeted. As a result, many silver mines were closed, people fled the area by the thousands, and the railroad slipped into its first receivership that same year.

Nevertheless, the railroad survived - just barely at times - for another 40 years hauling various kinds of freight and passengers until the stock market crash in 1929 spelled the almost certain financial failure of the railroad. However, there remained an obligation and responsibility for the railroad to provide reliable transportation for small amounts of freight, what few passengers there were, and the always-important U.S. Mail. It was time to economize. A new rail vehicle was born from an ingenious idea and developed into what later became widely known as the Galloping Geese.

Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose 2 in August 1931 from a Buick "Master Six" four-door sedan with a 28 hp engine. It had a larger frame than number 1 and a 16 foot mail/express compartment, although it still rode on two trucks. Weighing 10,300 lbs and 29' 11" long, the front sat four passengers, and more could ride in the rear or even, apparently, on top. In 1939, 2 was rebuilt with a Pierce-Arrow body and new engine, using parts from a goose that operated on the San Cristobal Railroad from 1935. The cab replaced the one on 2's older Buick body and the motor may have been replaced as well.

Initially painted black and dark green, in 1935, "geese" 2-6 were all painted silver. In 1950, the RGS lost its mail contract in favour of highway mail carriers and 3, 4, 5 and 7 were converted for tourist operations. Large windows were cut in the sides of the freight compartments and seating was added. A figure of a running goose and the words "Galloping Goose" were added to the carbody doors and also advertised on signs along the highway. This is the first time the railroad used the name. In Summer 1950, 1,000 people rode the "geese" and, in 1951, 2,000, but that was their last year of passenger service. The RGS had petitioned to discontinue service on the line, and the last work of the "geese" on their home territory was to help take up the rails.

Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville 52 ton switcher 130, nee US Gypsum 1303, built by General Electric in 1956.

Golden City & San Juan Railroad (another name for the Georgetown Loop Railroad) 55 ton centre-cab switcher 4, ex. Durango and Silverton 4, exx. East Broad Top Railroad 4 built by General Electric in 1964. It arrived at the museum in 2006.

Golden City & San Juan Railroad 6 ton swticher 3, ex. Sundown and Southern, nee Dupont built by Plymouth in 1935. It worked at the US Gypsum plant in Plaster City, California until it arrived at the museum in 1965.

Denver and Rio Grande Western 30 ton switcher 50, ex. Edward Hines Lumber Company's Grant County Oregon mill,nee Sumpter Valley Railroad 101 built by Davenport Locomotive Works in 1937. It worked until the end of operations on the Sumpter Valley in 1961 then in 1963, was purchased by the Denver and Rio Grande Western where it worked at Durango until sold to the Roaring Camp and Big Trees in Felton, California in 1970. It was then purchased by a museum in Durango in 1981 and finally sold to the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1984.

Denver & Rio Grande 346 built by Baldwin in 1881 as 406 "Cumbres". 406 was re-numbered 346 and reclassed in July 1924 three years after the D&RG was taken over from bankruptcy by the newly formed Denver & Rio Grande Western. Early in 1936, it was transported by standard gauge flat car to the Colorado & Southern Railway in Denver and started work between Denver and Leadville. On 25th July that year, 346 was working as a helper out of Como on an eastbound freight and, after cutting off at the top of Kenosha Pass, it headed east running light towards Denver. However, the engineer lost control of the locomotive, which overturned on a curve just below the summit.

In the Kenosha derailment, the engine suffered significant cosmetic damage, although the engineer was killed. After repairs in the Burlington/Colorado and Southern Denver shops, 346 returned to service with a new steel cab, new steam dome cover and sand dome, and various other replacement parts. It worked on the Colorado and Southern until April 1937, when it was shipped back to the Denver and Rio Grande Western. In 1947, the locomotive was sold to the Montezuma Lumber Company to haul lumber on a five-mile line between McPhee and Dolores. The following year, a fire destroyed the McPhee sawmill and ended 346's operational service life.

Following the sawmill fire, the engine was stored on a spur track in Dolores for nearly two years and was sold to Booker Junkyard in March 1948 and then to the Narrow Gauge Motel in Alamosa. In 1958, 346 was sold to Robert Richardson of Alamosa, who then sold it to the museum. After extensive work the locomotive returned to steam in 2007.

Westside Lumber 3 truck Shay 12 built by Lima in 1927 for the 36" narrow gauge Swayne Lumber Company, in Oroville, Califonia, as 16. In 1940, it was sold to West Side Lumber in Tuolumne, California and re-numbered 12. At some point, the locomotive was then sold to Francis Cottie to become West Side & Cherry Valley Railroad 12 and then, in 1986, it was sold to the Georgetown Loop Railroad and transferred to the museum in 2004 from the Georgetown Loop in Silver Plume.

Denver and Rio Grande Western box car 3765 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy wedge snow plough 205065, nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 50 foot flat car 91143 built by the railroad in 1929. It was loaded with broken stone to give extra weight and stability and coupled to the front of a locomotive, it would then be given a running start to ram into a snowdrift as far as it could go. This particular piece of machinery was used for many years between Sterling, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming.