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Colorado Railroad Museum Steam Locomotives |
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
ortions of the line were considered impassable to any other than a winged creature, yet mountains were scaled or pierced, and river-canyons passed, by blasting a path from the face of stupendous precipices; gorges of fearful depth were spanned by bridges swung into the air; and broad, deep valleys crossed by massive viaducts."
This nineteenth-century quotation refers not to some railroad in Colorado but to the Erie. It is nevertheless illustrative: when rails finally reached the Rockies, unheard of obstacles challenged the builders, and the powers of descriptive writing stood in constant danger of bankruptcy. Political considerations sent the Pacific railroad through Wyoming instead of Colorado; but it was also an easier route. Indeed, when at length a trans-Colorado railroad was built from Denver to Ogden, Utah, it was built by the most expedient means, and remained narrow gauge until 1890.
Some of the narrow gauge in Colorado is still running, and it still defies description. To many railfans, a trip to Colorado is the ultimate experience.
Steam Locomotive & Railroad Tradition
/ Jun 1961
from Steam Locomotive & Railroad Tradition
magazine 8 - Jun 1961 / collection
collection and RWH
Colorado Railroad Museum steam locomotive roster
from Ironhorse News
magazine - Summer 2021 / collection
Narrow Gauge
Rio Grande Southern #20
Rio Grande Southern #20
Golden, Co / Jun 2005 / Don Hinchliffe 
Rio Grande Southern #20
to Cripple Creek & Colorado Springs
to Denver & Rio Grande #20
to Rio Grande Southern #20
to Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, 1952
to Colorado Railroad Museum
from Steam Locomotive & Railroad Tradition
magazine 8 - Jun 1961 / collection
Golden, Co / Jun 1959 / JCH
May 2023 / RWH
Built in 1899, RGS No. 20 ran on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad southwest of Pikes Peak. Named Portland after a profitable mine in the Cripple Creek District, No. 20 hauled freight and passengers. It was sold to Rio Grande Southern in 1916 after flash floods destroyed much of the F&CC, putting that line out of business. In operation until 1951, No. 20 was purchased by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club and eventually donated to the Museum. The Locomotive recently returned to Colorado from an extended restoration trip to Pennsylvania. It is expected to resume operation in August 2020.
Built in 1899, RGS No. 20 ran on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad southwest of Pikes Peak. Named Portland after a profitable mine in the Cripple Creek District, No. 20 hauled freight and passengers. It was sold to Rio Grande Southern in 1916 after flash floods destroyed much of the F&CC, putting that line out of business. In operation until 1951, No. 20 was purchased by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club and eventually donated to the Museum. The Locomotive recently returned to Colorado from an extended restoration trip to Pennsylvania. It is expected to resume operation in August 2020.
Colorado Railroad Museum
Golden, Co / Sep 1973 / Gerard Putz
UNCOMMON or UNUSUAL locomotive
Rio Grande Southern #74
Rio Grande Southern #74
Golden, Co / Locomotive Wiki
Rio Grande Southern #74
to Denver Boulder & Western #30
to Colorado & Southern #74
to Rio Grande Southern #74
to City of Boulder CO, 1952
to Colorado Railroad Museum
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
RGS No. 74 is a B-4F class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow gauge steam locomotive built by the Brooks Locomotive Works of Dunkirk, NY in 1898, originally for the Colorado & North Western Railroad (CO&NW) as their No. 30. It was later sold to the Colorado & Southern Railroad (C&S), and later, the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) where it was renumbered by the latter railroad to RGS 74 and operated in mixed train service until 1953 when it was officially retired from service due to the closure of the RGS between 1952 and 1953. It was eventually donated to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, CO where it has remained on static display ever since. Upon arrival at the museum, it was cosmetically restored and also renumbered and relettered back to CO&NW 30. However, sometime between 2021 and 2022, it was renumbered and relettered back to RGS 74. It is one of two RGS steamers currently owned by the Colorado Railroad Museum, the other one being RGS 20, which is now in operating condition as of today.
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
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May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
UNCOMMON or UNUSUAL locomotive
Denver Leadville & Gunnison #191
Denver Leadville & Gunnison #191
Golden, Co / Robert Grant
Denver Leadville & Gunnison #191
to Denver Leadville & Gunnison #191
to Colorado & Southern #31
to Edward Hines Lumber Co #102
to Robbins Railroad #7
to City of Rhinelander WI, 1932
to Colorado Railroad Museum, 1973
Golden, Co / Robert Grant
May 2023 / RWH
Colorado Railroad Museum
Colorado Railroad Museum
DL&G No. 191 is the oldest steam locomotive in Colorado. Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia in early 1880, this engine moved gold and silver ore, coal, timber and merchandise between Denver and many mountain communities in central and southwestern Colorado.
Colorado Railroad Museum
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Denver & Rio Grande #318
Denver & Rio Grande #318
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Denver & Rio Grande #318
to Cripple Creek & Colorad Springs
to Denver & Rio Grande #428
to Denver & Rio Grande Western #318
to Morse Brothers Machinery
to Narrow Gauge Motel Inc.
to Colorado Railroad Museum, 1958
this locomotive also posted in DRGW Slim Steam Survivors
Golden, Co / Jun 1959 / JCH
D&RGW No. 318 completed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia in January 1896. It is a C-18 consolidation locomotive sporting the 2-8-0 wheel arrangement of that class. Its life started on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad. The Rio Grande purchased the engine in 1917 for $2,000 and assigned it number 428. It was later renumbered 318 and spent much of its Rio Grande life plying passenger and freight trains out of Salida, Durango and Montrose. In its twilight years it made short runs out of Pagosa Springs and Ouray.
Colorado Railroad Museum
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
postcard / collection
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
from Steam Locomotive & Railroad Tradition
magazine 8 - Jun 1961 / collection
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
from Railroading magazine 45 - Fall 1972 / collection
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Survivor 346
UNCOMMON or UNUSUAL locomotive
Denver & Rio Grande #346
Denver & Rio Grande #346
Golden, Co / Apr 2010 / Aaron Mandolesi
Denver & Rio Grande #346
to Denver & Rio Grande Western #346
leased Rio Grande Southern
to Montezuma Lumber Co #346
to Booker Junkyard, Durango CO
to Narrow Gauge Motel, Alamosa CO
to Colorado Railroad Museum, 1958
this locomotive also posted in DRGW Slim Steam Survivors
1881 Official Guide ad / collection
Golden, Co / Jun 1959 / JCH
postcard / collection
Golden, Co / Sep 1966 / Dave Straight
Golden, Co / Sep 1966 / Dave Straight
Golden, Co / Jun 1959 / Lucile Hawkins
D&RGW No. 346 is a C-19 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type narrow gauge steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1881 for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG), later known as the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW). It was originally named "Cumbres" and wore road number 406. This type of locomotive was needed for the then new "San Juan Extension" of the D&RG, which ran from Alamosa, over Cumbres Pass, to Durango and Silverton.
406 was primarily used in helper service. In 1923, it was renumbered 346, and in 1924, it was fitted with a new boiler. At that time, due to an ICC edict, all locomotives with wrought iron boilers had to be refitted with steel boilers… or scrapped. When the newer 400-series locomotives were purchased by the Rio Grande, 346 was transferred to the lines out of Gunnison and occasionally would be leased to the Rio Grande Southern for use on their lines from Durango to Telluride and Ridgeway. During the 1930s, 346 was one of three locomotives leased to the Colorado & Southern.
346 was wrecked on Kenosha Pass after running away. 346 was rebuilt in the Denver shops, the site of which became the Associated Grocers' Warehouse. The rebuild took only three weeks, and during that reconstruction, the locomotive got a steel cab, but lost its dome rings. After the rebuild the locomotive sat idle. 346 was sent to the Montezuma Lumber Company in 1947, to be used on the Rio Grande Southern just outside of Durango. When the mill burned down, the engine was no longer needed. Bob Richardson, one of the museum founders, bought 346 in 1950, and managed to get it to Alamosa, where he placed the locomotive at the Narrow Gauge Motel.
As of today, 346 is now one of three operational steam locomotives at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, CO, the others being D&RGW 491 and RGS 20. In October 2021, 346 was taken out of service in preparation for a complete overhaul, as well as its Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) mandated 1,472-day boiler inspection.
May 2023 / RWH
from Locomotive 346: Rebirth for the 21st Century
by Ramsey and Lawrence - 2007 / collection
from Locomotive 346: Rebirth for the 21st Century
by Ramsey and Lawrence - 2007 / collection
postcard / collection
from Railroading magazine 45 - Fall 1972 / collection
Golden, Co / Robert Grant
Golden, Co / Robert Grant
Golden, Co / Robert Grant
Check out Robert Grant's amazing RGUSRAIL.com to see more Colorado Museum steam
Shays
West Side Lumber Co #12
West Side Lumber Co #12
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
West Side Lumber Co #12
to West Side Lumber Co #12
to Pickering Lumber Corp
to West Side & Cherry Valley #12
to Georgetown Loop #12
at Colorado Railroad Museum
this locomotive also posted in Georgetown Loop Railroad
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
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May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
collection
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
West Side Lumber Co #14
West Side Lumber Co #14
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
West Side Lumber Co #14
to West Side Lumber Co #14
to Pickering Lumber Corp
to Camino Cable & Northern #4
to Georgetown Loop #14
at Colorado Railroad Museum
this locomotive also posted in Georgetown Loop Railroad
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
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May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Standard Gauge
Chicago Burlington & Quincy #5629
Chicago Burlington & Quincy #5629
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Chicago Burlington & Quincy #5629
to Intermountain Chapter NRHS
to Colorado Railroad Museum
Colorado Railroad Museum
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
postcard / collection
The largest steam engine at the Museum, CB&Q No. 5629 was built in 1940 by the Burlington Route Railroad in their own shops and was used for heavy freight and passenger service. It remained in service until the early 1960s, when it was purchased by the Intermountain Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and moved to the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1963. No. 5629 is one of only four Burlington locomotives of its type still in existence.
Colorado Railroad Museum
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Colorado Railroad Museum
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
UNCOMMON or UNUSUAL locomotive
Denver & Rio Grande #683
Denver & Rio Grande #683
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Denver & Rio Grande Western #683
to Denver & Rio Grande Western #683
to San Luis Valley Southern #106
to Colorado Railroad Museum, 1963
this locomotive also posted in DRGW standard survivors
Golden, Co / Robert Grant
May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
May 2023 / RWH
Standard Oil #1
Standard Oil #1
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Standard Oil #1
to Standard Oil Company #1
to American Oil Company #1
to Colorado Railroad Museum, 1962
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Union Pacific #4455
Union Pacific #4455
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Union Pacific #4455
to Laramie Valley #4455
to Colorado Railroad Museum, 1962
Golden, Co / May 2023 / RWH
Links / Sources
- Colorado Railroad Museum locomotives page
- SteamLocomotive.com Colorado steam roster page
- Wikipedia article for Colorado Railroad Museum
- Robert Grant's RGUSRAIL.com Colorado Railroad Museum page
- Steam Locomotive & Railroad Tradition magazine 8 (Jun 1961)
