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Caboose 49
Caboose 49 was built by the D&RG in 1881 during the big expansion
of the narrow gauge. It was renumbered to 0548 in 1886 when it was still
a four-wheel caboose. About 1910 or later, it was rebuilt to an eight-wheel
caboose. It was dismantled in October 1938 at Durango. The car body was purchased
in 1984 in very poor condition. It was restored by museum volunteers to the
original four-wheel #49 condition. This caboose is on the Colorado Register
of Historic Places. |
Rio Grande Southern 0404 Caboose
The RGS built this car in 1902 as the only new piece of rolling stock it
ever owned. 0404 served as a passenger coach and railway post office car
at times. Snowbound crew were sheltered during winter storms. It was used
on final runs of the RGS in 1951. |
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Denver and Rio Grande Western #60 Railway Post Office Car
This narrow gauge RPO was a rolling post office with clerks sorting mail
enroute. From 1899 to 1951 it served such communities as Salida, Gunnison,
Montrose, Durango, and Alamosa. A slot in the side of the car would allow
people to post a letter while the car was in station. This Railway Post Office
car is on the Colorado Register of Historic Places. |
Colorado Midland Parlor-Observation Car #111
This car was rebuilt from a coach to a one-of-a-kind parlor observation car.
It ran on the Colorado Midland between 1887 to 1918 on the gambler's special.
The gambler's special, the "Seven-Come-Eleven", ran between Denver and Cripple
Creek. On weekends it ran on the famed "Wild Flower Excursion" between Colorado
Springs and Eleven Mile Canyon. The Colorado Midland went bankrupt and abandoned
its lines except from Cripple Creek to Colorado Springs via Divide in 1921.
This remnant was called the Midland Terminal, and the car was renumbered
to #29. The MT ran until 1949, and it too was abandoned. We have lettered
one side of the car Colorado Midland #111 and one side Midland Terminal #29.
This car is on the Colorado Register of Historic Places. |
Colorado Midland observation-parlor #111, later Midland Terminal #29, one
of a kind used on Midland wildflower excursions.
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Denver and Rio Grande Western Coach #284
The Denver and Rio Grande car #60 was built by Jackson and Sharp, Wilmington,
Delaware, in 1881. It is a 44 seat coach with open vestibules. The D&RG
renumbered the car to #284 during 1885-6 because of previous overlap of numbers.
Car #284 was acquired in 1967. Extensive restoration was done in the 1990s,
and the car was placed on the Colorado Register of Historic Places. The
restoration includes new red plush upholstery and conductor's small bay windows
as used on the Chili Line. |
Coors Refrigerator Car #5400
The Adolph Coors Company had a fleet of 30 of these "billboard reefers" beginning
in 1934 with the repeal of Prohibition. These refrigerator cars were cooled
in the summer with large cakes of ice in bunkers in the ends of the cars
serviced through roof hatches. Heaters were put in the bunkers in the winter
to prevent freezing of the beer. These cars were used to transport its product
in the Rocky Mountain region. Today, 70% of Coors beer is shipped in insulated
boxcars to all parts of the United States. Each day, three trains of about
50 cars depart Golden, each car containing 172,000 cans of beer. |
The Coors billboard refrigerator is an excellent example of a colorful era
in the 1920s and 1930s when these self-advertising cars roamed the railroad
systems.
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Colorado & Southern Caboose #1009
This small narrow gauge 4-wheel caboose was built
by the Union Pacific in 1882, when UP controlled the Denver, South Park &
Pacific. After serving DSP&P successors Denver Leadville & Gunnison,
and later Colorado & Southern, it was retired at Leadville in 1942. The
car body served for 20 years as a backyard shed until it was purchased and
restored by the museum. |
Union Pacific #9149 Express Boxcar
This standard gauge Union Pacific express boxcar
was built with high-speed trucks in 1939 for use on passenger trains to transport
express and package freight overnight between such cities as Denver-Omaha,
Salt Lake City-Los Angeles, and Portland-Spokane.
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