Enjoy the Model Railroading Layout of the Denver HO Model Railroad Club

If you're ever traveling West on I-70 and passing through Denver, CO you'll want to give yourself a few extra hours to visit one of the Rocky Mountains largest and oldest model railroad clubs. It's located on the western side of Denver, in a suburb called Golden. It's part of the Colorado Railroad Museum located at 17155 West 44th Avenue, down in the basement.

The group that's responsible for keeping all the trains running on this magnificent model is the Denver HO Model Railroad Club. The name pretty much tells you what to expect, when it comes to the size of trains you'll see. Of course, they run the very popular HO scale trains, but they also operate the HOn3 and traction scales as well. These latter two types of trains aren't seen as much in other parts of the country, but are shown extensively on this massive club layout because it replicates what many of the real Colorado mountain railroads used to use when trains were hauling gold and silver, coal and passengers throughout the region.

When paying a visit to this monument to the West's railroading heritage, you'll want to be sure and check out Cripple Creek, Collegiate Peaks, Phantom Canyon, and even the cemetery in Troublesome. And, if you're up for a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, you'll want to pause long enough to see the firefighters make a bit less than usual valiant effort to put out the fire on the old IRS office building.

Although the Club has occupied the basement of the Colorado Railroad Museum since early 1968, they've actually been around since 1947 when the were just meeting in members' homes. Because of their long history and depth of experience, you'll find an incredible sight when you visit the museum. The quality of their work is evident and it's easy to believe that more than 4,000 hours of work are put in on the layout every year.

They use some of the most modern technology to operate their trains, so you'll find Digital Command Control operations that take advantage of today's wireless technology. There are segments of the layout that still use the model railroading standard DC controls, too. Because of that, any visitor that shows up during normal business hours will always be able to see a train run by simply depositing a quarter into the donation box.

Your quarter will start the trains that are in the front part of the layout where visitors can see them run, even when there aren't any club members around. If you deposit a second quarter you'll get to see the scale model amusement park rides built in Holley Park entertaining the local citizens near the Denver Interurban line.

If you happen to be in the area in December, you'll get an added treat with all the holiday decorations, the festive atmosphere, and maybe even a glimpse of Santa Claus along the train route. But, even if it's not Christmas time, you won't be disappointed when you stop in and see the trains of the Denver HO Model Railroad Club.