Touring the Colorado Railroad Museum

Railroad museums and exhibits are generally only for those that have a deep interest in the mode of transportation. It didn’t take me long in my visit at the Colorado Railroad Museum, east of Golden, to realize that I was not included in that group. It’s a nice enough place, but just not one that I found terribly appealing.

The museum itself is in a replica depot from the late 1800s. A large portion of the building is the gift shop. The rest contains a small display, railroad artwork, and some relics from the grand day of railroading in Colorado.

The best part of the building though is the huge model railroad set in the basement. I really got a kick out of this since it really brought out the kid in me. I plugged several quarters in the machine to watch the same blue train go around on the track. I loved watching it go and I really can’t seem to totally explain why.

The 15 acre grounds surrounding the building is home to several refurbished rail cars. This is where I found myself lost though as I have no interest in such things. It was nice to see some of the more bizarre cars that I’ve never seen before, like the ones for snow removal, but was really quite bored with the whole experience. It just was no where near as entertaining as I had anticipated.

The museum does seem to be a great place to bring kids though since so many of the cars are open to be explored. And with occasional exhibits, like the one for Thomas the Train that was coming up, the museum is a great place for a day out with the family if you can stomach the high entrance fees. The $8 adult fee though was a bit much for what you got in my opinion though.