What To Do At tHE museum

Ride a train. The only thing more captivating than a train is when you experience it all through the eyes of a toddler! Experience the sights, sounds, and smells of railroading as Train Rides roll past. Wave at the engineer and when it’s your turn, step aboard and sit back and enjoy! The Colorado Railroad Museum is the perfect place for multi-generational fun – grandparents, parents and kids will all delight in a visit to the Museum. Don’t forget your camera! LEARN MORE ABOUT TRAIN RIDES

Tour the Outdoor Railyard. Enjoy touring dozens of historic locomotives, passenger and freight cars, dating from the 1880s to the 1980s. You can step aboard several to experience these artifacts close-up, including a Railway Post Office, an 1880s Caboose, and a Kitchen Car which once prepared meals for hard-working railroad crews assigned to jobs at remote locations. VIEW OUR UPCOMING TOUR DATES

Enjoy a Storybook Tour or Special Events for Children. Families count on the Colorado Railroad Museum to offer enriching activities and old-fashioned fun year-round. With frequent read-aloud story times, scout gatherings and more, there’s always something extra to enjoy! VIEW OUR UPCOMING STORYBOOK TOURS AND SPECIAL EVENTS FOR CHILDREN

See and operate the amazing Denver HO Model Railroad Club Layout. Located in the lower level of the main building, 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. HO scale is 1/87th of the real size of standard gauge trains and track. HOn3 is the same scale, but designed for narrow gauge trains and track.  Visitors can insert quarters (available in the Depot Store) to make a train operate and also to power the scale amusement park on the layout! For more information, visit www.DenverHOModelRRClub.org.

Delight to the Outdoor Garden Railroad. Located outdoors in the Railyard, just north of the main Depot building, the Denver Garden Railway Society’s outdoor garden railroad is one of the largest public garden railroad layouts in the U.S. The Club’s operating garden railroad features two different track gauges, a number of scales, buildings, carefully maintained landscaping, and even a loop for operating scale live steam locomotives! This layout is operated whenever members of DGRS are available, and during special events, so it may not have train operating during your visit. However, the layout itself is quite interesting to see regardless! For more information, visit www.DenverGardenRailway.org.

Shop the Depot Gift Shop. Books, videos, calendars, maps, children’s books and toys, clothing and T-shirts…the Depot Gift Shop has it all and is a favorite spot to pick up a gift for railroad enthusiasts of all ages! VIEW OUR SHOP

Museum Research Library. Built in 1997, the Robert W. Richardson Railroad Library is one of the most comprehensive railroad reference libraries in the United States. From timetables to employee records, photographs to engineering documents, maps to books, it offers a wealth of railroad information. The collections focus on railroads of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. The Library is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to Museum visitors. Patrons are also welcome to write, call, or email the Library with questions or for further information. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR RESEARCH LIBRARY