Bike Path Discovery--Rock Island Railroad Roswell Museum

My husband and I were biking along the Pikes Peak Greenway when I spotted a sign that said "Railroad Museum" and pointed off onto Steel Drive. I said to my husband, "That's one museum I've never been to. In fact, I've never heard of it." He suggested we go check it out, so we did. Boy, did we find a hidden gem!

Did you know that there used to be a town named Roswell in Colorado, which was annexed into Colorado Springs? And that the Rock Island Railroad operated a roundhouse and repair yard in that small town, at the end of one of its lines? And that the remaining portion of that roundhouse contains a railroad and streetcar museum chock full of old photographs, artifacts, maps, books, and model trains and layouts? That they have 500 feet of active track along which they can run a restored trolley car which you can ride? That the grounds are littered with antique rail cars, streetcars, and locomotives?

What a treasure trove of history! And the passionate guys working on restoring the cars are a treasure trove of information themselves. They just love to talk about the history of railroads!

The museum is open Monday - Saturday, 9:30 am - 4:00 pm, and is located at 2333 Steel Drive. Admission is only $5 for adults. Check it out! We can't wait to return with our cameras. For more information, go to the website of the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation, one of three historical foundations that share the grounds and whose members restore trolleys and rail cars.

Now, if I could only figure out some way to incorporate all this into one of my mystery novels--maybe stash a dead body in one of the rail cars?