The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club was formed in Denver in 1938, by a group of people that care about rail transportation and the history that goes with it. They realized that changes were coming soon to rail travel across this region, such as the decline of narrow gauge trains, steam locomotives, and streetcars.

The Denver streetcar and interurban rail system was converted to buses in the late nineteen-forties and early fifties. Denver & Intermountain car #25 had run between Denver and Golden for nearly forty years, and was purchased by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club to save it from being scrapped in October of 1950. It was operated for special excursions for about three more years until the end of electrification on the line that ran along 13th Avenue through Lakewood. Stored outside in the Golden area during the mid-fifties, it was eventually placed on static display at the Colorado RR Museum in 1958.

Thirty years later, the Club made the decision to restore this car, and moved it to a locomotive shed on the grounds of the Denver Federal Center. It was thought that this restoration would take just a few years.

The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club & Historical Foundation’s members and supporters have contributed over 16,000 volunteer hours and many thousands of dollars to restore No. 25 to its 1911 appearance. It is a meticulous, authentic restoration. This car does not just look great, it runs well.

In recent years, the Club’s board of directors found out that the Federal Center is being re-developed for civilian uses, and the building where the car has been housed cannot remain there too much longer. The restoration was essentially complete, and the Board looked for a new future for the car, preferably in the Denver area.

The Denver Rail Heritage Society operates the Platte Valley Trolley on the west side of the river in downtown Denver. The city of Lakewood, Colorado, has a great interest in its local history. Both of these entities had made offers to the Rocky Mountain RR Club and Foundation for Car #25. Through extensive negotiations, an agreement was reached for these two parties to form a non-profit organization to acquire the car, which then made an offer that the Foundation accepted. The new West Corridor Historical Rail Cooperative held its first open house in August of last year to celebrate its formation and introduce the public to the next step in the car’s journey.

The West Corridor Historical Rail Cooperative hosted the 100th birthday of the historic Denver & Intermountain interurban Car No. 25 on February 19 at the Lakewood Civic Center. This event included the unveiling of a 3-D model of the proposed rail restoration facility and museum planned for the Oak Street Light Rail Station in Lakewood, and the celebration acknowledged those who have worked on or donated to the restoration of this car over the last 20+ years.

Plans are in place for the car to be part of a two-track railcar restoration facility and museum at the Oak Street station on RTD’s new West Corridor line, which is scheduled to open in 2013, nearly on the grade where it used to run. This facility would allow for additional restorations of other trolley cars and provide a regional history of urban transit, and create a destination stop for visitors. The vision is to eventually be able to use Car #25 for special runs on street trackage under wire between Oak Street station and the Westland shopping area on Colfax Avenue. On occasion, Car #25 will make special appearances at the Platte Valley Trolley operation.

For more information, contact the cooperative at 303-987-7800 or railcoop@lakewood.org. The web site is www.historictransit.org

The West Corridor Historical Rail Cooperative is a nonprofit organization promoting regional collaboration and appreciation of the history of urban transit. More funding will be needed to fulfill the plans for the car and restoration center/museum. All donations are tax-deductible.

To date, over $42,000 has been committed to the project for initial plans and design.
• A total of $1.8 million is needed to complete the future home of Car 25.
• We ask you to join us in realizing the future vision both for the ongoing care of Car 25 as well as for the future plans to share this treasure with the public. By December 2011, our ambitious goal is to raise half a million with the balance of the $1.8 million secured by mid 2012 for a 2013 grand opening.
• The cooperative is pursuing economic development and transit related funding opportunities AND they need your help as well.
• You can donate today by mail or on the secure website listed above.

The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club and the Rocky Mountain Railroad Historical Foundation jointly agree to match up to $25,000 of the funds raised by the West Corridor Historical Rail Cooperative between February 19th and May 30th (100 days for 100 years) that will be used for Car #25’s future plans.

Checks can be made out to WCHRC, LLC and sent to:
West Corridor Historical Rail Cooperative, LLC
Attention: Michelle Nierling
480 S. Allison Parkway
Lakewood, CO 80226

Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge locomotive No. 318 has been a major focus of volunteers and staff of the Colorado Railroad Museum over the past weeks. Narrow gauge rail fans always hoped that the stalwart little engine would again ride the rails at the Museum, but the goal of full restoration was scaled back to cosmetic out of necessity. In light of the fact that Rio Grande Southern No. 20 is still undergoing an expensive restoration, and given the condition of the 318 boiler, Museum staff decided that making it operational at this time was simply not practical.

As a result, an army of metal workers, wood workers, painters and other specialists have made a full-scale assault to refresh and display 318. Among the numerous reconditioning highlights include scaling and repainting the boiler, re-applying the boiler jacket, rebuilding the cab supports and floor, and reassembling the pony truck and integrating it back into the locomotive. Using the old, deteriorating cab as a pattern, artisan woodworkers built a completely new cab which is now on the frame.

Number 318 was the product of the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia and completed in January of 1896. It is a C-18 consolidation locomotive sporting the 2-8-0 wheel arrangement of that class. Its life started on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad. The Rio Grande purchased the engine in 1917 for $2000 and assigned it the number of 428. It was later renumbered 318 and spent much of its Rio Grande life plying passenger and freight trains out of Salida, Durango and Montrose. In its twilight years it made short runs out of Pagosa Springs and Ouray.

Cornelius W. Hauck, Colorado Railroad Museum co-founder, purchased the engine in 1954 for $2500. It was part of the collection at the Narrow Gauge Museum in Alamosa before migrating to the current Golden site in 1958. It was seen under steam on the limited trackage of the time at the museum until it was taken out of service in 1982.

Museum staff is confident that No. 318 will be completed and placed on display by Fall 2011. Planning is underway to place it with period freight or passenger cars in a prominent location. Many people remember the 318 consisting of random piles of iron scattered across the grounds of the Museum near the roundhouse and now eagerly await seeing her re-assembled and proudly on exhibit for all to enjoy.