Colorado Railroad Museum

Explore our 15-acre railyard with over 100 historic locomotives, passenger cars, and cabooses. Watch restoration in action at our Roundhouse, visit the 1880s-replica Depot Museum with rotating exhibits and an HO model railroad, and browse our Depot Store for the perfect rail-themed gift.

Things to Do

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!

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.

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, tours, and more, there’s always something extra to enjoy!

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!

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!

Plan Your Visit

Hours of Operation
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday (closed Mondays).

Admission
$12 adults, $5 ages 2-17, $10 seniors ages 60+. Free for members. Children under 2 do not require a ticket.

Just minutes from Denver
The Colorado Railroad Museum is located 12 miles west of downtown Denver. Take Exit 265 off of I-70 onto Colorado Highway 58 and follow the signs.

Get Involved

Volunteer
The volunteers of the Colorado Railroad Museum are an important and dedicated group crucial to our operations, archives, educational programs and visitor experience. Volunteers play an important role in helping to tell Colorado’s narrow-gauge history and the impact of the railways on the development of our great centennial state. Whether it’s helping run our large fundraising events such as Day Out With Thomas and The Polar Express, working behind the scenes of a new exhibit, or inspiring school kids to explore railroad history, we have a variety of opportunities to use your special skills to bring the Colorado Railroad Museum to life.

Donate
Sharing Colorado’s rich railroad heritage with guests and audiences of all ages and backgrounds is what the Colorado Railroad Museum exists to do. We’re proud of the many improvements made to our programs and facilities over the past decade. We’re also proud of the fact that we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with resolve, welcoming audiences to enjoy the Museum safely while launching online programming for those who were unable to visit.

But we couldn’t do all of this without your support. The Museum relies on the generosity of its members and donors throughout the year. As we continue taking steps to prepare for an even brighter future, we hope that you’ll join with us. Your contributions help preserve railroading’s incredible history, and also the sharing of this history through engaging programs and actual train rides. Younger guests often experience their first railroad journey at the Colorado Railroad Museum!