Join Rachel Maines as she visits the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado, where the rich history of the railroad industry in the Rocky Mountain West comes to life. Enjoy an insightful conversation with volunteer Steve Ebeling, a lifelong train enthusiast, as he shares the museum’s dedication to preserving the intrinsic stories tied to Colorado’s railroads. During this episode, you’ll discover the unique treasures housed in the museum and the passionate individuals behind its operations.
Welcome to Pinpoint Colorado. This is a show that highlights the people, the places, and the stories that make our state so special. I’m your host, Rachel Maines, and today I am in Golden, Colorado at the Colorado Railroad Museum to learn about the rich history of the railroad industry in the Rocky Mountain West. In just a moment, I sit down with volunteer Steve Ebeling on what makes this museum such a special stop for Coloradans and visitors alike. So thank you, Steve, for this interview. And it’s exciting. We used to work in radio together. You come to the radio station to make pancakes for all of us. We love that, of course. I was kind of expecting pancakes here, but you know.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, well, I’m sorry. You need to call ahead.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. But this is a great thing that you’re doing as a volunteer. Why did you decide to come here and volunteer? Yeah.
SPEAKER 01 :
uh i’ve been a train nut all my life i was born and raised in the town back in pennsylvania that was synonymous with railroading and you it was everywhere you went and it so would just stay there once i came to colorado and eventually heard of this place and the fact that it’s so largely volunteer based yes there is paid staff to lead a museum obviously but we have Oh, close to 330 some volunteers here in all aspects of running the museum. So I came a running.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. And the railway, you know, really shaped Colorado in its history. I’m sure you just love talking about that in the story.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’ll hear it said, no matter where you go in this country, the railroads made the nation. But in Colorado, it was even more so. As the railroads started to evolve and develop, they had the same things going on as the rest of the country, like agricultural things, manufacturing that you would expect. But the real push in Colorado was mining. precious metals, gold and silver, and the fact that they were all being mined in hard-to-reach places like the mountains, the San Juan Mountains, primarily a lot of the pieces here that you might care to show later, all came out of the San Juan area, the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, but all so much in support of mining. And there were no roads. So the railroads were the basic transportation for either the ore that they were mining or just the people themselves.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. I did an interview at the Molly Brown House Museum recently and just learned about that and how obviously they struck it rich in mining. A lot of people came here to strike it rich and go to the mines. So who founded this museum?
SPEAKER 01 :
gentleman by the name of Bob Richardson. He was living in Alamosa. He ran a small hotel. He had, he visited where I rode. fanatic, to be kind. He had a small museum and he was acquiring pieces and he was slowly running out of space. But in that same time period, we’re talking about the 1950s, a lot of these railroad entities in that part of the state were either cutting back drastically or just ceasing to operate, period. So he was able to acquire lots of pieces, locomotives, rolling stock, cabooses, whatnot, but he quickly ran out of places to display them. So he moved the whole thing here to Golden, and that was in like 1957, 1958, and it’s been an ongoing process ever since.
SPEAKER 02 :
You guys have a lot of activities that you do. One thing during Christmas is pretty special.
SPEAKER 01 :
That being the Polar Express, our version of the Polar Express, big event for us. It’s the biggest event for the year. It starts usually in November about midway and runs all the way through a day or two before Christmas.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. So I’ll have to come back for that later in the year during the Christmas season. But I imagine this is a great activity just to do with families and young kids. And of course, kids are fascinated with trains.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, the people who operate the museum, they’re they’re smart. We do a thing in September is Thomas the Tank Engine, which is a mainstay of PBS for kids programming. So Thomas literally comes here. We have a life size Thomas and he pulls trains. uh train for three weekends in september so yeah you every kid in denver is here for that event
SPEAKER 02 :
So doing the tours, what are some of the interesting questions that you get asked?
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, it’s a spectrum. Some people, they know nothing about railroading. They might see, if they’re out on the highways, they might see the main line down to Colorado Springs, and they’ll see a huge coal train, or they’ll see it winding its way through Denver. Or maybe they’re skiers, and they’ve ridden a ski train. But that’s all they really know. So to come… be here and get so close to the real thing. Some of these pieces have an incredible history. There’s no piece of rolling stock or locomotive here on the grounds that doesn’t have some significant history behind it. So again, very smart on the part of the people who run the museum.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. How do they get the pieces? Do people reach out and say, hey, I’ve acquired this piece. I want to donate it. How does that process work?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, that’s still, like I said, when Mr. Richardson was running the show, that was a very common thing. for people to be turning loose equipment and have nowhere else to go with it. And that happens occasionally here. More so, there was other locomotive that was just loaded up on a truck two days ago. It was a Shea locomotive, and that’s a certain type of steam locomotive that used to run on the Georgetown Loop. Well, the owners of that locomotive had nowhere to go with it anymore because they didn’t want to run the Shea’s anymore. So they put them, they displayed them here. But as this industry of museums and tourists and scenic railroads keeps evolving, the owner decided it was time for it to go back to its origins, which was in California. So just two days ago, the locomotive was put on a flatbed truck and it’s on its way to California. So that kind of movement is almost continuous.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love that. And the grounds, too. Right now we’re in the library, but then you have the main museum. But then people can go around the grounds and check out the different pieces.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right. Lots of static displays. But then we do have an active loop. It’s probably barely a half mile loop. But that’s where Polar Express runs. That’s where Thomas the Tank Engine runs and many of our other events. We also have what we call summer ops. We’re just a diesel electric locomotive pulls a four car train and it’s, you know, a Thursday through Sunday thing. And we also have a special piece. We’ll probably look at it later called the Galloping Goose, which ran this past Tuesday runs when there’s not a lot of people traffic anticipated. So we run something a little bit smaller.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s wonderful. So what’s your favorite part with the tour?
SPEAKER 01 :
The history, I guess, well, the technological aspect of it, because there is technology relating to railroads. Yes, in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, everything was steam. But eventually, technology evolved to diesel electrics, which is still the prime technology of the day. And they just keep refining it, making it more powerful, more efficient, that kind of stuff. So between the technology and the history, that’s it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. Do you feel like the interest in trains and going on a train trip is kind of rejuvenating? It’s kind of like the thing to do right now?
SPEAKER 01 :
Absolutely. There’s no doubt about it. Whether it’s places like this that are flourishing, the Internet, I guess, maybe contributes a lot because there’s so much material out there on YouTube. You can find railroad videos that you did. They’ve been there never ending. You know, you could never stop watching.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. What surprises people most as they walk around the grounds?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, probably the special usage. Like I tried to say earlier, every piece that’s here has either a special, there’s something special about it. Either it’s history, where it ran, what it did, or what it was created to do. Like we might take a look at a snowblower or a rotary snowplow. especially built for the railroad application because of the need to keep the mountain passes free of snow. But you look at this thing out here and it’s like, you know, they’re just a gag. It’s so big. They’re just totally aghast, I guess is the right word.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right.
SPEAKER 01 :
So the special usage type of pieces that are out there, plus the and even just an everyday box car might have a special story behind it or a tank car. There’s one over here with a very unique name on the side of it.
SPEAKER 02 :
And it’s strictly tied to Colorado history for those who are Colorado fans and also. Railroad fans, do you guys look to fundraise, or how does that work here at the museum?
SPEAKER 01 :
We, over the years, have developed, and this is probably more left of something that the director would probably be more informative of, but… We’ve developed a lot of great relationships with benefactors like Anschutz is one of them. And the SCFD, the Science and Cultural Facilities District, you get taxed on it. I used to get taxed on it. It’s a taxing entity, but they return monies to all the different organizations around the city, around Denver metro area that benefit from that. And we are on that list. And then we have other benefactors who step up and do special matching grants and stuff. So whatever fundraising we can do, they come alongside and it’s a dollar for dollar match. And now that we’re in the 2020s, last year, 2025, the main emphasis for fundraising was land acquisition. We need more land. We are out of space. We don’t have a square yard to put anything else in.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. Well, that’s wonderful that, you know, you keep on getting these pieces and you’re preserving the history. And so for those who want to make a family trip down here, how can they do that? Just go to the website.
SPEAKER 01 :
The website is the absolute best vehicle, coloradorailroadmuseum.org. And they’re very good about keeping our calendar right in front of you. So you always know what’s going on, you know, within a week or two and make plans for, especially the big events like Thomas or Polar.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right.
SPEAKER 01 :
Ticketed events, I guess.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Well, this is great. This is just a really unique, even for the singles to come down and take a look and learn some history. And also for the families, of course, and having just events that you wouldn’t really necessarily think to do. But I would highly recommend our listeners to
SPEAKER 01 :
Do a lot of bus tours in that season. I love to walk the parking lot in the summertime to see all the out-of-state plates in the parking lot.
SPEAKER 02 :
When people are passing on through Colorado, they’re like, oh yeah, we’re going to check that out. So they make a point to come down here. They do. That’s great. Well, thank you so much, Steve. We miss you at the radio station, but so happy that you’re here volunteering and just doing what you love to do and your passion.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you, Rachel.
SPEAKER 02 :
What an incredible look at the Colorado Railroad Museum and all the rich history that is preserved right here in Golden. To plan your visit and learn more, go to coloradorailroadmuseum.org. You can also watch the video of this week’s episode and stop by pinpointcolorado.com. For Pinpoint Colorado, I’m your host, Rachel Maines, and I’ll see you next time.
