Colorado Baxters: June Part 3

Girl in the Garden :-)

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We enjoyed a very neat visit to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.

At least one of the kids had been requesting this visit again.

The next day was a "Day out with Thomas" event, so the museum staff were completing some extra preparations. We enjoyed the benefit of extra bathroom and handwashing facilities!

Observing the Telegraph Office

Photo Op with Grandpa and Grandma V. and Cousin Alec

The Littlest Engineers (and Fireman)

Normally we would stop and look both ways, but seeing as how these machines were at a standstill anyway, it didn't seem quite as important this time!

Aunt Jozie and Miss Shelby with a pile of coal.

Trains!!! There is an old turn-table in the back of this picture.

We watched it be maneuvered by about six men with an engine in the middle.

The Historic Round House

Do you see the tell-tale blue of a certain engine getting ready for tomorrow?

Inside the Round House

Oh, the thrill! Here's Thomas, sleeping with a cover over his face, waiting for the big day tomorrow. We saved about an arm and a leg by going the day before (and that fit our schedule, anyway).

Apparently, Thomas travels to his "Day Out" events in the back of a semi-truck.

The sliver car-looking engine in the back is a Galloping Goose.

There were seven of these developed and built for use in the 1930's on the Rio Grande Southern railroad line in Colorado. They used a motor instead of a steam engine, which saved money for the railroad, which needed to meet its mail contract obligations to various mountain towns. These were more efficient than full-blown, heavy steam engine trains. According to Wikipedia, these "Motors" paid for themselves and began to profit after three weeks in service.

The Brakemen (kids)

This passenger coach looks pretty luxurious to me!

We sure enjoy these old trains! All of the trains at the Colorado Railroad Museum were either used on routes through Colorado, or were operated exclusively within Colorado for various reasons- both narrow gauge (mountains) and standard gauge.

This is a rotary snow plow, used to clear the tracks in Colorado.

Here are the kids enjoying playing a story in one of the cabooses.

Somehow, we got the impression that the structures in the front of this photo aren't as historical as the other items at this museum.

This engine was built in 1896. It originally ran on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad. in 1917 it was purchased by the Rio Grande ($2,000!) and hauled passenger and freight trains in southwest Colorado.

Here is a diesel engine that powered the Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Salt Lake City (1971 to 1983). According to the train museum's website, it was the last non-Amtrack passenger train to travel an intercity route in the U.S. After that it spent a year powering the Ski Train to Winter Park each weekend from Denver.

The small black engine on the left in this picture is a cog steam engine formerly used to run the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway train up and down Pikes Peak above Colorado Springs.