Westside Lumber Shay 14 built by Lima in 1916 as Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company 10 in Hobart Mills, California. In 1937, Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber went bankrupt and their equipment, including 10, was sold to the scrap dealer Hyman-Michaels in Chicago. Two years later, the locomotive was sold to West Side Lumber in Tuolumne and re-numbered 14. It was sold to Hal Wilmunder and became Camino, Cable & Northern 4 in Camino, California, in 1965. It then went to the Colorado Narrow Gauge Railroad as 14 in Central City, Colorado in 1974, and finally moved to Silver Plume to become Georgetown Loop 14 in 1981.
In 2004, following an impasse with the Colorado Historical Society, which owns the land on which the Georgetown Loop operates, the railroad announced it would cease operations. It planned to move to the Royal Gorge Route in Canon City, building a third rail so both narrow and broad gauge trains could run. Fortunately, the problems were ironed out and the Loop still operates although, in late 2004, 14 transferred to the Colorado Railroad Museum.
Denver and Rio Grande Western idler flat car X-3050 built by the railroad in 1941.
Denver & Intermountain Railroad caboose 902 built by Denver Tramway in 1924. The Denver & Intermountain was an interurban railway that operated 18 miles between Denver and Golden. Originating as a steam railroad, the Denver, Lakewood and Golden, the line was opened in 1891 and had built an electrified spur leading into downtown by 1893. The company went into receivership and was acquired by the Denver & Inter-Mountain Railway in 1904, changing to simply the Intermountain in 1907, before finally settling on Denver & Intermountain Railroad in 1910. The line was fully electrified at 11,000 volts alternating current in 1909, allowing direct trains to run on city streets to downtown Denver's Interurban Loop.
The company was acquired by Denver Tramway the following year, becoming Route 84 in the system. Service ended in 1950 – electrical infrastructure was maintained until 1953 and ownership of the line passed to Associated Railroads, maintained the line for freight as far as Denver Federal Center. The right-of-way was acquired by Regional Transportation District in the 1990's and rehabilitated to form part of the W Line light rail.
Denver and Rio Grande Western pile driver OB, nee Denver and Rio Grande 0363 built by the railroad in 1891.
Union Tank Car 11058, nee Union Tank Line 55349 built by the company in 1910.
A pair of unmarked gondolas.
Denver and Rio Grande Western box car 3272 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.
Rio Grande K-37 499 built by Baldwin in 1930. It was retired in the 1960's then spent over ten years on the deadline at the Alamosa roundhouse. In 1981, the steam engine was sold to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and was moved for display at Durango in 1985. In 1999, it was traded to the Royal Gorge Park for their K-36 486.
Rio Grande South caboose 0400, built by the Denver and Rio Grande Western in 1890.
Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose 7 built by the railroad in 1936 and is the last of seven Galloping Goose railcars. It has a 1926 Pierce-Arrow body and a 1936 Ford V-8 engine.
Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose 0585 built by the railroad in 1900.
The boiler of an unknown steam engine.
Denver and Rio Grande Western GP30 3011 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1962. It worked from 1962 until 1994 then was bought by Omnitrax and donated to the museum in February 2003.
Colorado and Southern box car 8310 built by the railroad in 1910.
Colorado and Southern refrigerator car 1113 built by the railroad in 1909 and sold to the Rio Grande Southern in 1938 and became 2101.
The tender from Denver and Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 583.
Roundhouse scene.
Union tank car 55172 built by the company in 1910.
The tender from an unknown steam engine.
Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose 49 built by the railroad in 1881.
Uintah Railway combine 50, nee Uintah Railway 1 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904 and rebuilt in 1924.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy caboose 13862 built by the railroad in 1917.
Denver, Leadville and Gunnison 2-8-0 191 built by Baldwin in 1880 as Denver, South Park & Pacific Railway Company 51. In 1885, it was renumbered 191 and it retained that number when the railroad was sold to the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railroad Company in 1889. Ten years later, when the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison was consolidated into the Colorado & Southern, it was renumbered 31. Soon after, it was sold to Edward Hines Lumber Co., in Park Falls, Wisconsin where it was renumbered 102.
In 1902, the locomotive was sold to A.A. Bigelow & Company, in Washburn, Wisconsin, where it was re-numbered 7. It then retained that number when it was sold to the Robbins Railroad Company in Rhinelander, Wisconsin in 1906. After being transferred to the Thunder Lake Lumber Company in 1919, 7 was finally retired in 1932 and was donated to the City of Rhinelander. In February 1973, the locomotive was transferred to the Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation for cosmetic restoration and display at the museum as it appeared when it worked for the Denver Leadville & Gunnison as 191.
Denver and Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 346.
Roundhouse scene.
Rio Grande Southern business car "Rico" 1890, nee Denver and Rio Grande Western railway post office car 17 built by Billmeyer and Small in 1882.
A box car used as an office.
Railway Express Agency box car 7451 built by General American in 1957. From here I walked over to west side of the museum to see what was there.
Denver and Rio Grande Western coach 284, nee Denver and Rio Grande Western 60 built by Jackson and Sharp in 1881.
Denver and Rio Grande Western coach 280, nee Denver and Rio Grande Western 56 "Rico" built by Jackson and Sharp in 1880.
Denver and Rio Grande Western flat car 6209 built by the railroad in 1918.
Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville open car 1133 built by the railroad.
Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose 0578, nee Denver and Rio Grande 94 built by the railroad in 1886.
Denver and Rio Grande Western flanger OC, nee Denver and Rio Grande 1 built by the railroad in 1885.
Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose 0574 built by the railroad in 1923.
Denver and Rio Grande Western 2-8-2 491 built by Baldwin in 1902 as 1126. After being rebuilt, 491 initially worked out of Salida to Gunnison and up the Denver and Rio Grande Western Crested Butte Branch as well as the Monarch Branch. It also worked from Alamosa to Antonito over Cumbres Pass to Chama, New Mexico and on to Durango and the Farmington Branch. 491 was donated to the Colorado State Historical Society at Alamosa by the railroad in 1972 and was moved to the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1985.
Western Weighing & Inspection Bureau test weight car 910 was based in Denver for many years and was used in Colorado and Wyoming to check track scales used to weigh loaded cars.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy caboose 1066
Western Fruit Express car 67685 painted as Coors 5400 built by the company in 1929 . The history of this type of car is related to that of breweries and the 1918-1933 era of national prohibition. Only about half of the 1,500 breweries nationwide survived those years. Coors of Golden was one of them. Brewers again started to market their products and one way was to paint the sides of refrigerator cars as "billboard reefers".
In 1933, Coors leased 20 cars from the Burlington Refrigerator Express Company, a subsidiary of the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad and the next year took delivery of ten more. they were used to ship Coors products to distributors in Colorado and adjacent states. When Burlington Northern donated Western Fruit Express 67685 in 1971, the car was placed on a short section of track in what today is the picnic grounds and two Coors employees donated their time to paint the car.
These cars had a very short life because in July 1934, the Interstate Commerce Commission prohibited cars from being lettered for any company other than the one which owned them. By the mid-1930's, 5400-5429 were returned to their old BREX numbers and the colorful advertising became part of history. None of the original cars exist today. In 1971, Burlington Northern donated Western Fruit Express WFEX 67685 which had served on the Great Northern Railway.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy bunk car 210766 built from 40 foot box cr 95379 by Western Steel in 1904.
Denver and Rio Grande Western box car 3661 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.
Equipment box car of unknown identity.
Rio Grande Southern caboose 0404 built by the railroad in 1902.
Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville open cars 9228 and 1036.
CChicago, Burlington and Quincy 4-8-4 5629 built by Baldwin in 1931.
Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville open car 1163.
Florence & Cripple Creek box car 588 built by American Car and Foundry in 1898.
More equipment is stored waiting its turn to be placed on exhibition someday in the future.
Denver and Salt Lake Railroad telephone booth MP 97.8. With the outside exhibits covered, I went inside and downstairs.
First I found these engines on display then behind me was a model railroad.
The Denver HO Model Railroad Club is one of the oldest and largest model railroad clubs in the Rocky Mountain region. The Club's operating layout features a full circus, a large city, mountains, trestles, tunnels, rivers, mining camps and more, all replicating the various types of Colorado mountain railroading. The layout is in HO and HOn3.
Views of this interesting layout. I went to the front counter to thanked them and was sent to meet the Museum Director who gave me the plan for the museum's 50th Birthday celebration on Saturday, as I would be back here after the Union Pacific Historical Society convention in Cheyenne. I thanked him and returned to my car.
I could not pass up this picture of Coors SW8 988.
One last picture here in Golden of the Railway Express Agency car before I left for Laramie for this night.
