Colorado Railroad Museum

Address:	17155 W 44th Ave, Golden, CO 80403, USA
Phone:	+1 303-279-4591
Site:	coloradorailroadmuseum.org
Rating:	4.4
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 9

Adrian Nagle

This is an easy review for me. My family has visited off and on for 15 years. It is very family friendly. Staff are all train fans and know what excitement it brings to young children and encourage that excitement and imagination. It is a live museum, meaning they try to restore historic trains and run them. The loop might be small, but its the experience of being pulled by a historic locomotive on a historic trail car that is important. Different locomotives run at different times. The loop includes a steep grade to get the locomotive working up hill, a rail crossing at the parking entrance, water tower for refilling, and down hill to experience braking. Being short, the track allows many riders to experience the thrill in busy weekends, or experience it multiple times on less busy weekends. There is plenty of old locomotives and rolling stock to visit and learn history from. The roundhouse is set up to view the active efforts for restoring this important history. Local staff are very knowledgeable and answer questions about the history and museum. The museum is affordable and all inclusive. There are only a few special events that cost extra. We often picnic at the museum and have hosted several birthday parties on our own (not through museum, which is an option with the red caboose). There are lawns, benches and now a new covered pavilion. Dont forget to watch the large garden railroad, and the model trains in the station basement. This museum makes for a great afternoon, or even whole day for the die hard train enthusiast and entire family.

Michael Oravitz

I think this place does a good job of maintaining its web reputation (maybe the reviewers are allied with the museum in some way), but not in providing as good an experience for children as they could potentially do. Your child likely will NOT be able to ride on any type of steam train or replica thereof. Rather, youll ride on this lame "Galloping Goose" train, which comprises an old Pierce-Arrow body that the museums staff has outfitted with some older truck engine and transmission from the 50s. Thus, they avoid the costs of maintaining a steam train for daily use for its patrons. Also, you may see many interesting big trains on their grounds, but if you go to explore them, youll be chased down by paranoid guys telling you "Hey, you cant go in that area, were not insured for that, we dont have the staff to lead people around tours of those trains," etc. The model train setups all have a colder, "hands off, kid" aura too them (not able to walk among the setup model-train landscapes). In short, severely lacking interactive experiences, which, as any parent knows, is a must for kids. My son, who is three, properly used the word "sucks" for the first time in a sentence after coming here. Not a choice word for him to be using at that age (Im working on that), but it summed up my experience as well. A long drive to Golden just to be let down.

J K

Pretty sad. We have had a family membership for 5 years and wont be renewing. Long story short, we purchased 5 Polar Express tickets and mistakenly went the week after our tickets were actually for and they basically said too bad for you. I checked my phone for available seats that day and other days, but was told that their website was incorrect and no refunds, oh and even though we already paid, they wouldnt even gives us our mugs and bells that were to be included! Seriously? Thats just bad PR! I get it, we screwed up, but they were able to look up and see we did not come the week before and all they offered us was a free day to visit the museum. Lol, thats what our membership gives us! What a joke.

John Davis

This is a fun place, we had a membership for several years. Our kids loved going here. They have some AMAZING programs, we went to Day Out With Thomas, Polar Express, and several others. Some of them seemed expensive when we bought tickets (i.e. Polar Express), but after going we realized it was well worth it. The staff and volunteers do an amazing job! The only downside is that parking is limited (it is more than enough most days) so they shuttle you by bus from down the street, but its not inconvenient unless you buy a bunch of stuff at events like Day Out With Thomas and have to lug them with you. When we left Colorado in 2016 we wished we could bring this place with us!

Jason Biggs

I am a member of this museum. My son loves the trains and so do I. This is a great place to spend the day walking around and climbing on/in the trains. We always take a ride on the Galloping Goose or Locomotive NO. 491. Be prepared for the days when Thomas is in town. Remember to pack a little extra patience. There are a lot of people that come out but they make it fun and efficient. You can crawl inside a lot of the trains, turn the knobs, pull the levers and ring the bells. They also have an awesome miniature train area where you can watch them ride over bridges and go through tunnels. Pack a lunch.

James Thompson

Took my 4 year old son for the Thomas the Tank Engine special event September 2016. Was absolutely amazing and I dare say I had as much fun as he did. Was very busy but the staff and volunteers did an incredible job managing the crowds and keeping the trains moving on schedule. Parking was a little intense as we had to park over a mile away and shuttle in, but the shuttle was free and there were several shuttles going at the same time, keeping the lines down. Everyone we talked to was friendly and informative. It was a great time and I have no qualms about getting tickets next year. Thank you!

Rebecca Schramm

This had the potential to be much more enjoyable than it was. Most of the the engines and cars were closed, even the ones where they had built stairs going up to them; all you can see is the outside since the windows are so high. There was very little information about the cars and engines near them, so it was more like walking around a train grave yard than a museum. I would have liked to see signs telling me about each piece. Little kids and people who already know a lot about trains would probably like it, but as someone who likes to learn new things at museums, I was disappointed.

Chris Kellogg

If youre a railroad nerd, this is a great place for you. Several interesting engines, specialty rail like the Spruce Goose and snow clearing equipment, an interesting and wide variety of rolling stock, plus a workshop where you can see them restoring steam-age equipment. The model railroad is very cool, especially you can see it on days theyre operating. Some sections are starting to show some age with dust collecting and some discoloration, but its still a gem. Lots of memorabilia, lots of very cool models, lots of interesting information about the golden age of railroads.

Rebecca Schibler

Most of the railroad cars were closed on the Tuesday we went, and the outdoor model railroad was not running. There are a number of rundown cars sitting in almost a junk yard. There were a number of employees working but the library was also closed. The best part is the downstairs mini museum and the play area for kids, but only on weekdays. You also have to pay for the indoor model railroad. Only $.25 but it is in addition to your entrance fee. The crowds on weekends make that area unpleasantly crowded. Not bad for a morning with toddlers but unfortunately not great.