I saw the coolest thing yesterday. I went to Cheyenne, to meet a friend for lunch in a restaurant in their old Union Pacific Railroad depot. I arrived early, so I decided to visit their railroad museum, which is also in the depot. As many railroad museums do, they have a room set aside for an elaborate model railroad. In their case, the model has been recently acquired from its builder and is still being reconstructed.
I entered the model railroad room, and the first thing I saw was a blueprint that said “Golden Roundhouse.” Several photos near the blueprint were of Golden locations.
I asked the attendant why they had Golden images in a Cheyenne museum. He explained that their model (which I hadn’t yet seen) reproduces the route of the Colorado & Southern narrow gauge railroad, which ran from Golden to Blackhawk, Idaho Springs, Georgetown, and Silver Plume. The man who made the model had worked on it for 30 years and had arranged to donate it to the Cheyenne Depot Museum.
When they began laying out the model in its new home, they realized that they had more room available, so they’re going to add Golden to the layout. The rest of the model is incredible in its detail and accuracy, so I’m looking forward to visiting again in a few months and seeing how Mini Golden is coming along!
See pictures of the model and learn more about it!
