COLORADO RAILROAD HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC
PO BOX 10, GOLDEN, CO 80401 www.coloradorailroadmuseum.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: THE MISSION OF THE COLORADO RAILROAD HISTORICAL FOUNDATION, INC. IS TO PRESERVE AND CONVEY THE RICH HISTORY OF RAILROADING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION THROUGH ACQUISITION, RESEARCH, EXHIBITION, AND EDUCATION.

ACQUIRE, PRESERVE, AND EXHIBIT LOCOMOTIVES, CARS, ARTIFACTS AND RECORDS PERTAINING TO CO RAILROADS.

THE MUSEUM REPRESENTS RAILROADING HISTORY IN A HANDS-ON AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL FASHION BY PRESERVING AND MAKING ACCESSIBLE IMPORTANT HISTORIC ARTIFACTS, ARTWORK AND DOCUMENTS, AND BY OFFERING OUTSTANDING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS TO THE COMMUNITY. THE MUSEUM HAS SYSTEMATICALLY ACQUIRED A COLLECTION OF OVER 100 PIECES OF RAILROAD STOCK, INCLUDING RAIL CARS AND LOCOMOTIVES DATING FROM 1879 TO THE PRESENT. BY SEEKING OUT RECORDS, MAPS, AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM RAILROADS AS THEY CLOSED THEIR OPERATIONS, THE MUSEUM HAS BECOME ONE OF THE LARGEST ARCHIVES OF RAILROAD PRINT MATERIALS IN THE UNITED STATES. IT IS DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTION, PRESERVATION, RESTORATION, AND CATALOGUING OF ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH RAILROADING, PARTICULARLY THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH COLORADO AND INTERMOUNTAIN RAILROADING. THE MUSEUM'S RESEARCH LIBRARY IS THE SECOND LARGEST OF ITS KIND, AND THE LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS ARE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF WESTERN RAILROADS AND THEIR LINES. AUTHORS OF ALL GENRES MAY BE FOUND RESEARCHING TIMETABLES, PAYROLL RECORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THEIR PROJECTS. THE MUSEUM LIBRARY IS ALSO HOME TO AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF RAILROAD RELATED ART, SOME OF IT PAINTED BY WORLD-FAMOUS ARTISTS, AND DONATED TO THE MUSEUM BY DEDICATED COLLECTORS. THIS COLLECTION IS SOMETIMES LOANED TO OTHER INSTITUTIONS IN COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS. SINCE 1961 THE MUSEUM HAS PUBLISHED OVER 50 SCHOLARLY BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS ON THE RAILROADS OF COLORADO AND THE WEST THAT ARE INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED BY HISTORIANS. THE COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM HAS BEEN RANKED AMONG THE TOP 25 DENVER AREA ATTRACTIONS BY DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL AND AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN PAID ATTRACTIONS BY VISIT DENVER.THE COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM HAS A ROBUST RESTORATION PROGRAM, OVERSEEN BY OUR CHIEF MECHANICAL OFFICER / CURATOR OF ROLLING STOCK AND HIS BAND OF SKILLED VOLUNTEERS, MANY OF WHOM ARE FORMER RAILROAD EMPLOYEES AND MECHANICS. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE OF OUR ROLLING STOCK CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. BY ENSURING THAT OUR VISITORS ARE ABLE TO VIEW AND SOMETIMES RIDE ON CARS THAT HAVE BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY RESTORED, WE ARE ABLE TO BRING HISTORY TO LIFE AND TO TEACH OUR GUESTS ABOUT A TRANSFORMATIONAL PERIOD IN THE HISTORY OF OUR STATE AND OUR COUNTRY. OUR DOCENTS ARE ABLE TO SPEAK ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT IT WAS TO TRAVEL BY RAIL IF ONE "HAD MEANS, OR IF ONE WERE TRAVELING IN THIRD CLASS, IF ONE WERE A RAILROAD EMPLOYEE, OR EVEN IF ONE HAD HOPPED ON A FREIGHT CAR WITH OTHER HOBOS. TOUR HOSTS CAN ADDRESS THE WAYS IN WHICH RAILROADS CONTRIBUTED TO THE DYNAMIC ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND AGRICULTURAL GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN WEST, AND WHICH INDIVIDUALS SPEARHEADED THAT GROWTH.IN 2019, THE MUSEUM'S RESTORATION PROGRAM FOCUSED ON A NUMBER OF PROJECTS. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN 2-8-0 NO. 318'S CAB WAS REFURBISHED AND REPAINTED, AND THE LOCOMOTIVE PLACED BACK ON DISPLAY. IN ADDITION TO REPLACING THE RIGHT SIDE CAB WALL, WE ADDED BRAKE VALVES AND OTHER ACCESSORIES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE CAB, INCLUDING THE LONG-ABSENT DYNAMO. RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN BUSINESS CAR "RICO" SAW REPAIR OF ITS EXTERIOR WOODWORK ALONG WITH A NEW COAT OF PAINT. UNION PACIFIC STREAMLINED COACH NO. 5442 ALSO SAW A NEW COAT OF ARMOUR YELLOW PAINT, PLUS COMPLETELY NEW REFLECTORIZED LETTERING. REPAINTINGS OF A FORMER DENVER & INTERMOUNTAIN CABOOSE, A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE THAT ONCE SERVED BOULDER, AND A DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE WHICH TODAY PULLS EXCURSION TRAINS AROUND THE MUSEUM'S GROUNDS WERE ALSO COMPLETED DURING THE YEAR.THE LARGEST SINGLE RESTORATION PROJECT HAS BEEN THE PENDING COMPLETION OF RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN STEAM LOCOMOTIVE NO. 20. THIS LONG-RUNNING PROJECT MADE BIG STRIDES IN 2019, WITH THE LOCOMOTIVE RETURNING TO THE MUSEUM FROM STRASBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, WHERE IT HAD SPENT NEARLY 12 YEARS UNDERGOING MAJOR BOILER AND RUNNING GEAR REPAIRS. SINCE ITS RETURN, THE LOCOMOTIVE HAS HAD AN ALL-NEW, REPLACEMENT CAB INSTALLED, AND A NUMBER OF MECHANICAL APPLIANCES HAVE ALSO BEEN INSTALLED. NEW AIR BRAKE AND STEM PIPING ARE BEING CRAFTED AND INSTALLED. THE LOCOMOTIVE'S TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO STEAM IS NOW PLANNED FOR 2020.THE MUSEUM CELEBRATED ITS 60TH ANNIVERSARY IN JULY 2019, WITH LOCAL DIGNITARIES AND A HOST OF LONGTIME DONORS AND SUPPORTERS ON HAND TO OFFER THEIR CONGRATULATIONS. A GRAND PARADE OF LOCOMOTIVES KICKED OFF THE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS, FOLLOWED BY A SPECIAL DAY OF ACTIVITIES AND TRAIN RIDES, AND AN EVENING DINNER AND PROGRAM WHICH FEATURED A NARRATED 60-YEAR RECAP OF PROGRESS BEING MADE AT THE COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM. THREE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS-ONE FORMER, ONE RETIRING, ONE INCOMING-WERE ON HAND TO HELP MAKE THIS A TRULY MOMENTOUS OCCASION.

STARTING IN NOVEMBER OF 2014 AND THROUGH THE WINTER HOLIDAY SEASON EACH YEAR, THE STORY OF "THE POLAR EXPRESS" IS RE-CREATED SO VISITORS CAN BE IMMERSED IN THE SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND INTRIGUE OF THE CLASSIC CHILDREN'S TALE.

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