This Friday, The Polar Express pulls into Golden for the season. It’s a fan favorite for kids and adults alike.

What most won’t know is that the whole place exists because one gentleman couldn’t stand watching Colorado’s mountain railroads get cut up for scrap. So he started buying them. Then he ran out of room. Next thing you know, we have the Colorado Railroad Museum.

By the 1940s, the little narrow gauge railroads that once hauled ore out of the San Juans and the high country were dying one after another. The Uintah closed in 1939. The Silverton Northern in 1942. The Midland Terminal in 1949. The Rio Grande Southern, maybe the most stubborn of them all, gave up in 1951. Ore prices fell, costs climbed, and the math stopped working.

When a railroad dies, it doesn’t happen gracefully. Trains get scrapped, records get tossed, and whole chapters of monumental Colorado history end up in the literal, and metaphorical, dumpster.

Enter Robert W. Richardson, a former stamp-newspaper editor with a serious railroad problem. In the late 1940s he was running a motel in Alamosa and quietly collecting everything he could get his hands on from the faltering railroads: rolling stock, timetables, paperwork, parts. He parked retired cars on the property for guests to view and put out a niche newsletter called Narrow Gauge News.

His friend Cornelius “Corny” Hauck, a fellow railroad hobbyist from Ohio, bought a Rio Grande steam locomotive, No. 318, and parked it at the motel too. It was clear pretty quickly that Alamosa wasn’t going to be big enough.

In 1958, the two of them bought an old farm just east of Golden. Richardson built a replica narrow gauge depot to serve as the museum building, and volunteers started laying track by hand for about 50 pieces of equipment. The Colorado Railroad Museum opened to the public in July 1959.

Always scrappy, Richardson built a motel on site to fund the operation in the early days. The Iron Horse Motel sat right where the roundhouse stands today.

Over the next few decades the collection kept growing. The star acquisitions came in the 1980s: two Galloping Geese, Nos. 6 and 7. If you’ve never seen one, they’re half truck, half train, the workhorse hybrids the Rio Grande Southern cobbled together to keep the mail moving when it couldn’t afford to run steam.

Richardson ran the museum until 1991, then retired to Pennsylvania. He passed in 2007 at 96. In the meantime, the museum added a research library in his name, finished its track loop, and in 2000 opened a roundhouse and turntable named for Corny Hauck.

Today it’s a 15-acre railyard with more than 100 locomotives and cars, and one of the best railroad museums in the country. Locomotive No. 346, which Richardson bought in 1958, was brought back to steam in 2007 and still runs on operating days.

At one point, almost every piece out there was headed toward the scrap pile. Thankfully somebody decided it was worth saving.

SUNRISE: 6:38 AM
SUNSET: 4:50 PM
FORECAST: awesome fall weather, highs in the 50s and 60s
BEST DAY TO GET OUTSIDE: Thursday looking mighty fine

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Come support the new Loveland Freeride program this Saturday with a good ol fashion party at Boone Mountain Sports, kicking off at 6pm.

Green Mountain Brewery, Lakewood- Weekly Run Club, 6pm. Run, then beers

Buffalo Rose, Golden- 20th annual Fly Fishing Film Tour, doors 6pm, films 7pm. Tight lines

Holidaily Brewing, Golden- Paint Your Pet, 6-9pm. Good boy

Deep Roots Winery, Golden- Tuesday Bottle & Board special, 2-9pm. Uncork

Center for the Arts Evergreen, Evergreen- Art Bar: relief-printed holiday cards, 5-8pm. Carve it

The Hummingbird Club, Evergreen- Piano Night w/ Doug Krause, 5-8pm. Dinner jams

Miners Saloon, Golden- Live music Wednesdays, 6-9pm.

Connects Workspace, Golden- Golden Startup Coffee, 9-11am. Caffeinate

Foothills Art Center, Golden- Make or Mend free textile meetup, 4-6pm. Patch it

Snowpack Taproom, Conifer- Open Bluegrass Jam, 6:30-9pm. Pick a little

Runner’s Roost, Golden- Weekly Run Club, meet at 6pm

BP Run Co, Wheat Ridge- Weekly run club, starting at 6pm. Lace ‘em up

Cactus Jack’s Saloon, Evergreen- Thank you Thursday. Locals get 10% off all day while the kitchen is open, and a great warm up for Open Mic Night 👇

Cactus Jack’s Saloon, Evergreen- Almost Famous Open Mic Night, starting at 7pm

Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison- Fireside Chat: From Fossils to Photographs with Meredith Fontana, 5-7pm. Fireside

New Terrain Brewing, Golden- Music by the Mesa: Ms Amy – The Jet Set, 6-9pm. Swing by

State 38 Distilling, Golden- Burn & Sip wood-burning + cocktail workshop, 6-7:30pm. Sip & scorch

Center for the Arts Evergreen, Evergreen- Art Bar: stained glass snowflake, 6-8pm. Let it snow

Buffalo Rose, Golden- Creedence Colorado Revival & Swingtown, 7pm. Proud Mary

Snowpack Taproom, Conifer- Comedy Night with Luke Gaston, 8-10pm. Laugh it up

Cheese Ranch Artisan Deli, Golden- Fondue Friday, 5pm. Yummy

Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden- THE POLAR EXPRESS™ opening weekend, runs Fri–Sun. Hot chocolate

Babe’s Tea Room, Golden- Sips & self-care with Facial Aesthetics, 4-6pm. Pinkies up

Miners Alley, Golden- 2026 Gala: yacht rock, live performances, silent auction. Set sail

Colorado School of Mines, Golden- ESC: II, a local snowboard movie premiere, 6-9pm. Send it

Mountain Home, Evergreen- Annual Holiday Open House. Shopping Deals

BP Run Co, Wheat Ridge- Citius Run Club long run, 8am. Go long

Snowpack Taproom, Conifer- Saturday Morning Yoga, 10-11am. Flow state

Rockland Community Church, Golden- Evergreen Chamber Orchestra Masterworks Fall Concert, 3pm. Bravo

Mountain Toad Brewing, Golden- Drag Bingo: Time Warped, a Rocky Horror revue, 7:30-10pm. Let’s do the time warp

Downtown Georgetown- Bighorn Sheep Festival, 10am-3pm. Go Rams

Boone Mountain Sports, Evergreen- “Feel the Love” party supporting Loveland Freeride, 6-10pm. Deals, Live music, and Good Vibes

Downtown Evergreen- Second Saturday Sip & Shop, 4-7pm. Get out there

Mountain Toad Brewing, Golden- Board Game Night, 5pm-close. Have fun

Confluence Coffee, Golden- Fall Fest Book Fair with vendors and seasonal menu, 9am-3pm. Bookworms

Holidaily Brewing, Golden- Rescue Puppy Yoga, 11am-noon. Puppies

Snowpack Taproom, Conifer- Blood Drive, 11am-3pm. Roll up a sleeve

Golden Quilt Company, Golden- Kids Sewing: Stuffie Sleeping Bag, ages 8-12, 12:30-3:30pm. Stitch it

Buffalo Rose, Golden- Crazy Diamonds: The Definitive Pink Floyd Experience, 6pm. Shine on

Golden Game Guild, Golden- Teach Me to Play Mondays, 6-9pm. Learn new games

New Terrain Brewing, Golden- Yoga on Tap, 6-7pm. Get your ticket

Snowpack Taproom, Conifer- Avalanche Safety Class, 6-9pm. Know before you go

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See you around the next bend!