Train Rides
There is something amazing about trains. The familiar whistle has always promised adventure. The gentle rock of the rails has set the rhythm of our lives. Experience it all again at the Colorado Railroad Museum.
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THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride returns once again to the Colorado Railroad Museum! Sure to re-kindle the Christmas spirit in True Believers!
THE POLAR EXPRESS™ offers a unique, three-part theatrical extravaganza of Holiday Magic. Holiday Caroling and the “Hot Chocolate” song and dance kick things off each evening, performed in our newly renovated, heated POLAR EXPRESS™ Pavilion. A ride to the North Pole aboard vintage coaches, pulled by an authentic, coal-fired steam locomotive, is next. And finally, visiting with Santa tops off the experience!
Tickets will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Museum Members will have an exclusive pre-purchase opportunity beginning one week earlier on September 23, 2025. Not a Member? Click Here to learn about the benefits of Museum Membership, including advance purchase opportunities for THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride!
Watch for further updates right here on our website. All Aboard for Holiday Magic!
Take a Train Ride pulled by a powerful diesel electric locomotive on Saturdays mid-January through mid-May, late-August & October. Over the summer season, that frequency increases, with Train Rides available Thursday-Sunday from mid-May through mid-August.
Ride: $4 adults, $2 ages 2-17, $4 age 60+. Free for Museum members and children under age 2.
After adding Ride Tickets to your cart, don’t forget to add Admission!
Admission: $10 adults, $5 ages 2-17, $8 age 60+. Free for Museum members and children under age 2.
TRAIN RIDES OFFERED ON SELECT SATURDAYS THIS FALL
October 4, 2025
October 11, 2025
October 25, 2025
Catch a ride on-board one of Rio Grande Southern’s unique “Galloping Goose” Motorcars!
Rides depart every 30 minutes from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on select Tuesdays & Sundays mid-January thru early May, late August and October.
Sundays (Autumn)
October 5, 2025
October 12, 2025
October 26, 2025
Ride: $4 adults, $2 ages 2-17, $4 age 60+. Free for Museum members and children under age 2.
After adding Ride Tickets to your cart, don’t forget to add Admission!
Admission: $10 adults, $5 ages 2-17, $8 age 60+. Free for Museum members and children under age 2.
Steam-Up Rides depart select dates every 30 minutes 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Admission (Includes Ride): $14 adults, $7 ages 2-17, $12 age 60+. Free for Museum members and children under age 2.
View the upcoming STEAM-UP schedule below!
HARVEST HAUNT EXPRESS: October 18-19, 2025
The Colorado Railroad Museum’s annual Halloween-themed steam-up event is back! Grounds are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with activities taking place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., including train rides. Guests are encouraged to come in costume for Trick-or-Treating!
Enjoy the Olde Railroaders Silly Graveyard, “not-so-spooky” Haunted Railcars and a hay bale maze. Bring your camera, and get a great picture of your group’s costumes in front of the Pumpkin Patch cart. Tasty treats and lunchtime food options will be available for purchase.
An authentic, coal burning Colorado steam locomotive will pull trains for this event. Regular admission and train ride pricing applies. Capacity is limited, so advance ticket purchase is recommended! Plan to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled departure.
COLORADO CROSSINGS: 2026 Dates TBA
Denver’s largest annual rail enthusiast event—the Colorado Railroad Museum’s Colorado Crossings steam-up weekend—returns for 2025 on Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18! This year’s theme, “Fanning the Future!” commemorates the pioneering railfan groups which gave many Coloradans their first taste of up-close-and-personal railroading, and led to the preservation of locomotives and cars that are highly revered today by the “next generation” of railroad enthusiasts.
DINOSAUR EXPRESS TRAIN: 2026 Dates TBA
Dinosaurs are coming back to Golden, Colorado…only this time, they are arriving on the Dinosaur Express Train! On May 31st and June 1st, railroad tracks will meet dinosaur tracks for a weekend of family fun at the Colorado Railroad Museum as the Dinosaur Express Train chugs into the station.
The world’s first Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus fossils were discovered at nearby Dinosaur Ridge, and Golden is where the first T-Rex tooth fossil was found. So, it’s only fitting that two of every kid’s favorite things—dinosaurs and trains—come together for this fun festival.
COLORADO POWER DAYS: 2026 Dates TBA
This weekend, the focus will be on power of all types—check out antique tractors, hit-and-miss engines, vintage automobiles, even a fire truck. And of course, steam locomotion, too! There will be fun activities for the whole family from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Regular admission and train ride pricing applies. Advance purchase of admission and train ride tickets recommended.
GOLD RUSH DAYS: 2026 Dates TBA
As summer begins to wind down celebrate Colorado’s Gold Rush heritage with special programming and ride behind one of the last coal-fired steam locomotives operating in Colorado!
Activities will include Gold Panning demonstrations, turntable demonstrations, and more happening around the Museum’s 15-acre railyard. Plenty of photo opportunities will of course also be on hand—including the Museum’s very own mascot, Spike the Railroad Dog! Food and tasty treats will also be available for purchase.
In celebration of our partnerships with local groups and organizations the Colorado Railroad Museum is excited to offer FREE admission select dates throughout the year!
SCFD Free Admission Days:
To celebrate our partnership with the SCFD (Scientific and Cultural Facilities District) the Museum is proud to offer free general admission to all visitors select Thursdays throughout the year.
Catch an optional train ride behind a Diesel Engine, inside vintage passenger cars! Grounds & exhibits open 9am to 5pm. Rides operate 10am to 3pm.
March 13, 2025
May 8, 2025
October 2, 2025
Admission: Free
Ride Tickets: $4 Adults (18+), $2 Children (2-17). Museum members and children under the age of 2 are free.
Boulder County Free Admission Days:
In celebration of our partnership with the city of Boulder, Colorado, the Museum is excited to offer free general admission & train rides select dates to all residents of Boulder County. If you count yourself as a Boulder County resident, we invite you to visit in 2025!
Proof of residency is required.
Catch an optional train ride behind inside vintage passenger cars! Grounds & exhibits open 9am to 5pm. Rides operate 10am to 3pm.
May 23, 2025
August 8, 2025
October 17, 2025
Admission: $10 adults, $5 ages 2-17, $8 age 60+. Free for residents of Boulder County, Museum members and children under age 2.
Ride Tickets: $4 Adults (18+), $2 Children (2-17). Free for residents of Boulder County, Museum members and children under age 2.
Peep! Peep! Thomas the Tank Engine is rolling into Golden, Colorado for three weekends of fun this September!
Important Notice: During the Day Out With Thomas™ event weekends—September 6-7, 13-14, and 20-21, 2025—the Museum will be closed to general admission. Only guests with Day Out With Thomas™ tickets will be admitted, and no walk-up sales will be available on these dates. Regular Museum admission will resume Tuesday through Friday.
Peep! Peep! Thomas the Tank Engine is rolling into Golden, Colorado for three weekends of fun this September as the annual Day Out With Thomas event celebrates 30 years of fun-filled family memories! THE PARTY TOUR will be stopping at the Colorado Railroad Museum on the weekends of September 6-7, 13-14, and 20-21, 2025.
Day Out With Thomas™ is a fun-filled family event that takes place at Heritage Railways across the country. Every ticket includes a train ride with a life-sized Thomas the Tank Engine as well as access to a full day of activities for all to enjoy including live entertainment, photo ops with Sir Topham Hatt, lawn games and shopping at the pop-up gift shop for exclusive Thomas swag.
Tickets for this Day Out With Thomas™ event go on sale to the public beginning Tuesday, July 29. Ticket prices are $25 for ages 1 and up (service charges and fees may apply). Capacity will be limited, and advanced tickets are required. Walk-up sales will not be available. Sales open at 9am beginning on Tuesday July 29, 2025 (Tuesday, July 22, 2025 for Museum Members).
ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
WHO: Day Out With Thomas™ the Tank Engine!
WHAT: Family Fun in an outdoor environment. Highlights include:
- 20-minute Train Ride (at a specified time) led by a full-sized, talking Thomas the Tank Engine locomotive.
- Admission to select portions of the Colorado Railroad Museum with outdoor offerings and activities included
- Fun activities and entertainment featuring:
- Live entertainment including trainyard gameshows, puppet shows and even stilt walkers!
- Say hello to Sir Topham Hatt, Controller of the Railway.
- Bubble activities like bubble blowing and bubble bouncer-ball racing in the Bubble Zone.
- Photo opportunities throughout the event, including with Thomas himself.
- Play with Thomas & Friends toys then pick out a temporary tattoo in the Play Pod.
- An activity sheet that will guide guests through the event experience highlighting the four key station stops to visit for a free giveaway.
- Outdoor Scale Model Trains operating all day long at the Denver Garden Railway Society’s permanent on-site, landscaped G-gauge railroad.
- Push a Locomotive Around aboard a 120-year old, “armstrong”-powered railroad turntable
- Step-On Access to selected historic railroad cars and locomotives.
- Pop-up gift shop on site with exclusive Thomas & Friends™ products only available at Day Out With Thomas™.
- Food and drinks available on-site for purchase.
For more information about Day Out With Thomas™ at the Colorado Railroad Museum, visit our Day Out With Thomas FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page by Clicking Here.
WHEN: September 6-7, 13-14, and 20-21 (Saturdays & Sunday)
- Tickets include a train ride at a designated time selected at the point of purchase, plus admission to museum grounds and all activities for up to three hours. Purchase tickets online at www.dayoutwiththomas.com
WHERE: Colorado Railroad Museum, 17155 W. 44th Avenue, Golden, CO 80403
Tickets for this Day Out With Thomas™ event go on sale to the public beginning Tuesday, July 29, 2025 (tickets will go on-sale to Museum Members July 22, 2025). Ticket prices $25 for ages 1 and up – service charges and fees may apply. Advanced tickets are required. Walk-up sales will not be available.
Join us for an exciting new event: Small Wonders Weekend and explore the amazing world of small-scale railroading!
2026 Dates TBA
At this celebration of toy trains and scale model railroading, guests will “marvel at the minis” while exploring the Museum’s impressive small-scale railroads, including the extensive on-site layouts operated by the Denver Garden Railway Society and the Denver HO Model Railroad Club.
For this special weekend, the High Plains 3-Railers will set up a modular O gauge layout in the Museum Pavilion, bringing even more miniature trains to life. This means there will be O gauge, HO, and G gauge trains in operation all weekend long! Both days, there will be opportunities for guests (under supervision) to participate in actually operating trains on the Garden Railroad layout! And, live operators will staff the HO model railroad layout in the Museum Depot basement both days, allowing guests to see the entire layout in action and to ask questions.
Videos highlighting the history of both layouts will air on the Pavilion’s video wall throughout the day, and live, narrated presentations in the Depot Upper Gallery will showcase how Toy Trains and Scale Models differ from each other, and the differences between Scale and Gauge in miniature railroading. And, in addition to the small trains, there will be big rides! Steam train rides will be offered on Saturday, and Galloping Goose rides on Sunday. Whether you’re a longtime train enthusiast or just discovering the world of model railroading, this event is perfect for all ages. All Aboard!
Activities and demonstrations take place each day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rides will depart every half-hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Regular admission and train ride pricing applies. Advance purchase of admission and train ride tickets is recommended. Admission (with Ride): $14 adults, $7 ages 2-17, $12 age 60+. Free for Museum members and children under age 2. Goose Rides are NOT wheelchair accessible.
For the early part of January, the Colorado Railroad Museum does NOT offer Saturday Train Rides. The Museum Depot and Outdoor Railyard are open as usual Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Early winter in Colorado can be delightful, but when winter weather comes to Colorado, it can become frightful! Snowfall can vary greatly by region, and we strive to clear parking lots and pathways for your safety, but sometimes it’s just not safe. If it’s snowing mightily outside, or if the snow has just stopped after a large snowfall event, please call ahead (Tuesday-Sunday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.) before your visit: (303) 279-4591.
Tour The Colorado Railroad Museum
The familiar whistle has always promised adventure. The gentle rock of the rails has set the rhythm of our lives. Enjoy touring our outdoor railyard filled with vestiges of Colorado’s rich railroad heritage. See our indoor HO Model Railroad and our Changing Exhibits. Then, catch a ride on-board a passenger train pulled by a powerful, vintage locomotive!
The Colorado Railroad Museum features a large, outdoor exhibit space and is effectively an active rail yard. Please wear appropriate clothing for Colorado weather and good footwear – we recommend good walking shoes or hiking boots as well as flexible layers. Grounds open Tuesday-Sunday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday Train Rides depart every 30 minutes 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (crews take a lunch break at 12:30 p.m).
UPCOMING EVENTS BY DATE
