2016 ANNUAL REPORT

From the Director 2016 was a busy year for the Colorado Railroad Museum. We drew over 87,000 visitors and continued to be recognized by both the Longwoods Study and the Denver Business Journal as one of the top paid attractions in the Denver Metro Area. The Museum continued to work with Visit Denver and the Colorado Tourism Office to provide tours to media groups from around the world to promote tourism in the Denver Metro Area. In 2016, the Board and Executive Director hired the Museum’s first Director of Development and a new Events Coordinator / Volunteer Manager. Later in the year, the decision was made to bring the PR and Marketing functions in house, foregoing the services of the outside consultant we had previously used. This effort saved the museum over $30,000, and our communications have become more focused since they come from “inside” the Museum. In addition, the Colorado Railroad Museum was recognized for our efforts in preservation. We received the prestigeous Norman and Ethyl Meyer award for preservation of the built environment from the Jefferson County Historical Society, as well as a feature article in Historically Jeffco, the quarterly publication of the Society. Preser-vation of the “built environment” recognizes the importance of preserving historically significants buildings and artifacts as differentiated from Colorado’s beautiful natural resources. We also received the Eide Bailly “Resourc-FULLness” award for creating a sustainable source of revenue with the addition of Polar Express. Looking ahead, we anticipate expanded school programs, a robust restoration schedule and an exciting roster of events! Join us as we “Lose Track of Time!”

CollectionsIn 2016, the Curator of Collections took the opportunity to move the Museum’s sign collection from a deteriorating baggage car slated to be restored and into a more stable and secure car. This move provided us a great opportunity to measure, photograph, describe, and catalog the signs.

In order to gain better intellectual control over our archi-val and object collections at the CRRM, we are conducting an inventory of every storage area on the property that contains permanent collection items. Such a detailed inventory has never been done at the CRRM. This is a years-long project, but the 2016-2017 FY marked the beginning of this important endeavor.

Our collections curator devised a plan to construct a storage screen in the space on the wall behind our compac-tor shelves on which to hang artworks so that they will be off of the floor, away from potential flood, vibration, and light damage. As the artworks are prepared to hang on the new screen, they are described, measured, cata-

loged, and assessed for condition issues.

Our library has purchased 2 scanners which specifically scan 35mm slides, roll film, and negatives. These scanners are easily operat-ed by volunteers and will help us to begin digitizing our extensive slide, film, and negative collection. These scanners were purchased through a grant from the Golden Civic Foundation.Thanks to a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, we purchased 14 PEM2 data loggers which measure the relative humid-ity and temperature of our collections storage spaces. The moni-tors have been placed throughout our site wherever collections are stored, including the library, exhibit galleries, and rail cars. Data

gathered from these loggers will help us assess our collections areas for better environmental control, and will help us advocate for funding in the future to either move col-lections to a climate-controlled space or to retrofit our current spaces.

An ongoing project involves the cataloging of every artifact, book, and archival item into the Past Perfect Museum Data-base. Our Curator of Collections and our many dedicated library volunteers work every day towards cataloging these items into Past Perfect. Previously, our collections were catalogued in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and sometimes Microsoft Word documents. Past Perfect offers a more easily searchable interface, and since it is a “relational” database, will allow us to connect donor records with collections and con-nect related collections. In 2016, over 4,000 items were identi-fied, photographed, cataloged and stored. This is a significant step forward in creating and maintaining a proper collections management system.

Restoration and Display of Rolling Stock In 2016, the B-8 business car had extensive restoration work, including paint stripping, woodwork refinishing, and chrome work on original light fixtures. The B-8 had fallen far from her original glory, and was rescued from a farmer’s field and service as a hen house. Our roundhouse staff has located period furniture and B-8 is starting to recover its former beauty. She is the oldest piece of rolling stock in our inventory, and our crew is justifiably proud of her improved condition!

The roundhouse crew has been working hard to keep both of our antique locomotives in top condition, so they are ready to greet our guests and to pull the Polar Express and Thomas the Tank Engine. They both receive regular in-spections and undergo a rigorous maintenance schedule. Our volunteers have undertaken the initial stages in the restoration of Uintah 50, a combine car. The Uintah cars are unique to the Colorado Railroad Museum, and were build to support the mining and hauling of Gilsonite, which is a component of over 160 products!

The UP Dining Car was outfitted with new red leather chairs that more closely resemble the chairs that would have been in a mid-century American dining car, and window gaskets are being replaced, and new carpet will soon be installed, moving us ever closer to our goal of complete restoration. We anticipate someday serving historic, curated meals from the Dining Car in 2018. An important milestone in the past year has been that arrangements are being made to transport Steam Loco-motive #20 back to Golden from Strasburg, PA, where she has undergone an extensive, decade-long restoration. Final work will be conducted in our roundhouse and the No. 20 will be pulling visitors around our loop by 2019! Another tremendously important accomplishment was the continued implementation of last year’s comprehensive maintenance and inspection schedule of our passenger fleet. By adhering to this schedule, we can ensure that our passenger cars stay in good condition and are ready to safely transport our guests.

ExhibitsThe museum featured a variety of changing exhibits in 2016.

The Upper Gallery hosted “Trains in Literature,” which explored the impact of railroads in our culture as reflected through literature featuring trains as setting, characters and/or a major part of a story’s plot; “Black on Track” focused on the Pullman Porters and their importance in both African American and Denver history; and “Getting Out the Vote: Trains in Colorado Politics” looked specifically at Whistle Stop Presidential tours that included Colorado.

Our Lower Gallery featured “Eating on the Rails,” a look at the evolution of dining

on the railroad from eating houses such as Harvey Houses to railroad dining cars. The exhibit received strong reviews including the May 2016 edition of The Railroadiana Express by Rich Luckin. A smaller exhibit,“Colorado Trains and Building Bricks” repurposed a room previously used as a case in the lower gallery to an exhibit space of its own - the exhibit

featured Lego sculptures of rail cars, buildings and locomotives from our

collection. A guide provided visitors with the opportunity to visit those same pieces in

their real form on our grounds and of course a Lego station provided young visitors with the opportunity to explore their own creativity. Lastly, “Curator’s Choice: Switch Locks” was a small case exhibit that provided an opportunity to bring one of the museum’s sub col-lections, switch locks, out for visitors to examine in one place.

EducationPublic Educational ProgramsAs part of the general programming for the public, the museum offers, Storytime & Craft for young children and their caregivers, Spring Break Days for visitors looking for special experiences during the school hol-iday break, Summer Day Camps to help nurture the next generation of rail fans, Behind the Scenes Tours to provide visitors with a more in-depth and personal experience of the museum and its unique collection, and Rails & Cocktails Lecture Series a popular lecture series on Colorado and Colorado railroad history.

School ProgramsParticular attention was given in 2016 to developing school programming that addressed Colorado State Content Standards, improved critical thinking skills and was age specific. An education brochure was produced and delivered by volunteers to Jeffco, Cherry Creek, St. Vrain and Denver schools.

EventsThe Museum hosts a robust calendar of mission-based themed events, all of which are geared toward a dual combination of education and family entertainment. Join us for:

Day Out With Thomas

Bunny Express

Mothers’ Day

Dinosaur Express Train

Fathers’ Day

Harvest Beer & Cider Festival

Trick or Treat Train

Polar Express

Steampunk at the Station

...and much more!

Net Investment Return,

$384,000.00

Admissions, $527,836.00

Contributed Income,

$246,933.00

SCFD Funding, $306,457.00

Net Museum Store Sales, $123,139.00

Major Events, $1,105,862.00

Income

Major Events, $746,361.00

Fundraising, $50,102.00

Management/ Admin,

$348,162.00

Programming, $1,302,684.00

Expenses

Financials - Where We Get Our Money and What We Do With It

As you can see, the biggest part of our income is from the major events that we host here at the Museum. This includes, Polar Express and Day Out With Thomas. The next greatest portion is from admissions. We welcome nearly 90,000 visitors each year, and are proud to share our knowledge and artifacts with them! The Museum is fortunate to have an endowment fund, and are able to access a portion of the inter-est to aid us in our programs and restorations. Funding from the Denver area’s Scientific and Cultural Facilities District makes up another large portion of our budget, and we are grateful to the citizens of the seven county District for placing such importance on museums and the arts. We couldn’t do it with-out your generosity! Thanks to our members and donors for keeping us on track with their gifts! Have you shopped in our museum store? We have a great selection of items for rail fans of all ages!

As you might imagine, it costs a lot to keep our antique steam locomotives running, and to preserve and restore rail cars that live outdoors in the sun and weather. Nothing about maintianing our collection comes cheap! The preservation and curation of our collections, and our educational programming for all age levels is at the forefront of all we do. The costs associated with bringing Polar Express and Day Out With Thomas as well as our other events are a major investment in bringing high quality education-al entertainment to the Museum each year. We employ a professsional staff of 13 to manage our site for the benefit of our members and visitors.

ExhibitsPOLAR EXPRESS

GUESTS

MEMORIAL GIFTS

Donors $1 - $99Lawrence AbramsWilliam C. AndersonRichard AnnettDavid and Sheryl BabiarzJohn and Crystal BabosRobert and Judith BainbridgeBernard F. BalonLarry BanghamBransford and Rae Ann BanksMary BartonJohn and Marlene BeckerBruce N. BennettTerry BodineRobert C. BoltzSuzanne BradeenPaul BrenneckeKenneth BuckJoseph A. CammalleriTom CarlenoDavid D. CarlockDaniel CarrollJames CarterVerland L. CasedyDenis CeurvorstPeter J. Chimney Will CittaHal ClawsonAlan CobbBeverly Cowan Credit Union of DenverJohn CwiekLewis & Mary Anna DahmJohn D’aloiaKatie DanekLes DillmanFrank DotiSharlyn DrobnitchRobert J. DumbroweJames E. DuncanRobert DunlapDavid DyeLawrence E. ElliottCharlease ElzengaJohn G. FarrellDavid FidelmanDavid FinleyCharles FischerThomas GiovaleDavid GossJohn E. Groneck, Jr.Kevin HallDavid Hearne

William HeckmanDavid J. HesterSandra HoelskenPam HoskinG. B. Jack, IIILarry & Vickie Johns Steve JorgensenRaymond M. JorgensenW. H. KincheloeGeorge KlairJames KottkampStanley Lanzano, Sr.Richard LarsonAngelique LaytonHoward LeflerTodd LeftwichGeorge & Virginia LeftwichWilliam J. LockScott & Judith LoomerRichard LuckinRonald LutzJeff MarkeyLloyd MartinDorothy MaxDonald MerchantMichael MickesH. Dana MoranSusanna NilssonBrian NordenChristopher OlgeirsonAlan OlsonLester L. OverfeltTom W. PalmerJames R. PalmquistGary PattersonTom PetermanLawrence PetersonPeter E. PetrilloseDonald E. PlotkinWilliam F. PlumeAlissa PlumleyJohn PoundenMarty & Bonnie PraterTyler Premo Richard M. Ralston, Sr.Gary RasmussenMark RichardsGeorge H. RichmondElizabeth RobertsDennis C. RobertsRobert RossJeri SandbachDavid SandbachRussell A. Schmidt

Clifford K. SchoffSara SenaKenneth C. ShaverThomas & Hilde SimcoWoody SpriggsWilliam A. StammFrank H. Stapleton, Jr.Tommy C. StewartStephen N. ThompsonMichael TinettiEdith W. TrosperSeth TurnerHugh UrquhartDaniel J. Von BurskeGeorge M. WagonerMichael & Sigrid WalkerDonna WatkinsMelvin L. WebberClaude M. WeilJohn W. WeisingerMiriam L. WeissRichard WheelerGary & Anne WhiteSidney J. WhiteSteven WhiteBruce WileyJerry & Cheryl WodekThelma WoodardCarole YungkurthStan & Linda Zimmerman

Benefactors $100 - $499Thomas L. AbbottCharles and Joan AlbiWilliam B. AndersonRalph and Alice AtlassBransford and Rae Ann BanksPaul D. BaringerPhilip F. BeachIrwin and Judy BeckPerry BeckerDavid M. BenderDavid M. BenderHarry F. BergstromMichael BestorJohn I. BlankenshipHerbert L. BoneCraig BrantleyKeith B. BrownTom BrunnerRobert L. BucherKathleen BurneyWilliam Busacca

Thomas E. CaldwellKatey ChamblinAllan & Ann ClarkeGordon CochraneRoger CookL.D. DaughertyG. W. DeucherWallace B. Diboll, Jr.William C. Dickey, MDCarole DilworthGerri Doebelin Donation JugHeather DorseyLarry & Cheryl DorseyIrby L. DownesWilliam H. DucommunWilliam A. DunstHarold EasonLawrence E. ElliottKendall L. EllisCarl EnglundRichard EricksonRobert FisherCarl FordAngela FoxWilliam FrensleyMartin R. FrickJosepth C. GaldiArthur L. GoodallEdward HabichWarren HagistDana F. HamiltonFred HamiltonGeoff & Mary HamwayDaniel W. HarrisCornelius HauckKeith HayesDavid P. HedinWilliam & Judy HendersonTom & Bev HenryDavid HensarlingJohn Hill Steve Hill John C. HillmanJodi HitchcockRobert HixenbaughMary HlavinKenneth & Sally Ann HooksDavid HueteSusan & Daniel Imming Glenn B. JoestenRaymond M. JorgensenRoy A. KempArthur A. Kent

Our SupportersThe Colorado Railroad Museum is supported by gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations. On behalf of our Board of Trustees, our staff, our volunteers, and especially our youthful visitors, we gratefully acknowledge gifts from the following supporters. Please accept our heartfelt thanks!

W. G. KettleboroughHolly KnudsenAl KolpackFrank KyperRichard LarsonH. B. LeedsHelen LeithJames H. LigonDavid & Brenda LynamRobert LyonLawrence MarquessDavid B. MartinMichael McAteerMichael & Veryl McBrideJerald W. McCormacGary & Letha McCoyJames G. McCreathMaryKate McCutcheonGlenn McGheeJohn T. McIlwaineGreg & Beth McLeodClifford A. MestelRobert MichonskiReg S. MitchellRon & Alys MoubryCharles MutschlerNathan F. NiebauerCarl G. NielsenNora OehrleAlan OlsonSteven ParkerCarl E. PeschelErnest F. PetruzziMark & Barbara PingreyBarney PolkRichard S. PowellMarty & Bonnie PraterRobert W. ProctorJohn H. RoamDavid M. RopchanKaren RoxburghLon & Susan RuedisiliDouglas SandmeyerCarol Ann & Louis SassErnest R. SchmidtWalter H. SchuchmannDon SeagrenWilliam Severns

Tom SharrattBruce W. SorelTim SorrellsThomas A. SpencerLarry SpringerJ. B. StegeEllen Stewart Strada Advertising, LLCJohn StutzDavid SwinfordStephen W. SzirmayDonald & Robin TallmanJohn E. Timberlake, IIIJames R. Titley Phil TromburgRobert TyceEdwin E. Van Pelt, Sr.John Van WeerenRonald & Donna VaneTom W. VeseyJohn F. Walsh, Jr.John W. WeisingerTheodore O. Wiese, Jr.Alicia Wischmeier

Patrons $500 - $999Larry and Donna AndersonJames D. Barton Blue Ribbon Builders Richard Breithaupt Thomas & Carol Daniels Mike & Andrea Davis James L. Ehrenberger Dick and Kaye Ferguson Dennis L. Grant Gary L. Hansberry Ronald and Annaloy Hib-bert Russell L. Hogue Eric C. Johnson James W. LaBaughNils W. Larsen Randy Lee Dan Love Cheryl L. O’Toole Jim Reyer Jim Ross

Ralph D. Samuelson Ronald & Lila Schmidt Steven Strunk Donald & Robin Tallman Samuel M. Vance Arnold Wagner, Jr. Nicholas G. Wilson Sustainers $1,000 - $4,999Charles and Joan Albi Larry & Donna Anderson Lindsey and Rosa Ashby Al Blount Eric Bracher John & Carolyn Bredenberg James & Joyce Cillessen Denver Garden Railway SocietyLarry & Cheryl Dorsey Garry Eades Louis R. W. EdmondsEide Bailly Karen Gerhardt Golden Civic FoundationLinda Huskey Spen Kellogg Jim and Sharon McGee Larry J. Miller Jim & Lil Ranniger Dick Schell Jeff Schroeder Mike Spera Charles Rooks John Manley Richard P. Mattione Jim and Sharon McGee

Major Donors $5,000 - $9,999Denver HO Model Railroad Club Daniel W. ElyFred & Irene MooseNational Railway Historical SocietyDavid M. Ropchan

Visionary $10,000Anthony DuarteMartin MariettaBarbara MelbyLakin Family FoundationJim and Kathy O’Connor

Memorial GiftsIn 2016, the Museum received gifts in memory of the follow-ing deceased individuals:Eugene & Phyllis RichardsHarold ZimbelmanDavid SandbachChuck YungkurthRichard Dorman & Bob Rich-ardsonWalter Bruce GaltRon WelchGunnar OlgeirsonTex PlumleyJohn MelbyErnie DoebelinBruce GaltBob RichardsonMichael ElkinR. W. McLeodLou SassBob StullDick Ferguson

In Honor Of…In 2016, the Museum received gifts in honor of the follow-ing friends who continue to support us:Larry and Cheryl DorseyDonald Vancil

Thank You!