On Saturday, March 28, volunteers Dwight, Colin, Bruce, Jerod, Nick, Reid, Gabriel, Sandra and Paul enjoyed the excellent early Spring weather by doing the MOST IMPORTANT work we do at the Museum, cleaning up blown-in tumbleweeds from around our equipment. Today’s crop was rather light, with only two pickup bed fulls to mash into the dumpster. While over at the collection area, we were able to install some wash out plugs back into the 2912’s boiler. Upon returning to the shop yard and dealing with a few more weeds and filling our dumpster, the crew did a thorough cleaning of our cabooses to be ready for next week’s event. Then it was lunch time.

After lunch, the group split up with some of the group jumping into reinstalling a pin in the lift mast of the Massey Ferguson, which after some effort we were able to get installed. Dwight did some work to change out a power supply for the radio on Engine 102, and then we checked the batteries on the engine and plugged in the charger to top off the charge and check the battery health. We did some other minor work around the shop before finishing up with a sense of accomplishment.

I have included a few pictures of today’s activities.

– Paul

On Saturday March 21, volunteers Dwight, Kendall, Jerod, Ben, Dannis, Bryan, Nick, Nick (yes two separate Nick’s!), Bruce, Colin, and Paul got busy early, on what promised to be a hot and very busy day. The main goal of the day was to get Engine 102 ready for use over the next six months. We started out by getting Engine 104 started and ready to move. Then we added coolant and changed fuel filters on Engine 102. We had got the track connections done earlier, so it was time to pull 102 out and give her the annual wash job. A rotating group worked on washing the locomotive, while another group cleaned the shop floor where 102 had sat during the winter. This work got us up to lunch time and we took a quick break.

After lunch, it was time to get Engine 102 started and checked out. While she was warming up, the windows were cleaned and the wash equipment was put away. We also added lube oil to the engine after it warmed up. It only took 40 gallons to top her off! Then we backed Engine 104 and the three cabooses out around our sharp curve, to check out the track work we did there last week. Everything looked good, so it was time to park 104 out of the way and get 102 hooked up to the cabooses to be ready for the upcoming events. Things were going very well, so we decided to do some more work, which included adding an accessory to Engine 102, and working to repair a problem that was spotted on our Massey Ferguson Forklift. We finally wrapped up around 6:00pm, a rather long day for the Museum volunteers.

I have included some photos that Bruce and I were able to catch of the work being done.

– Paul

Photos by Paul and Bruce

On Saturday, March 14, volunteers Dwight, Bruce, Chris, Ben, Kendall, Jerod, Dannis, Scott and Paul got busy fixing some track. We spent the morning replacing two ties in the sharp curve leading into the shop area. We picked a couple of bad ties in the area where we experienced a slight derailment last week, and replaced them with solid pieces from our stockpile. Replacing ties is one of our crew’s favorite activities because everyone gets a chance to drive spikes!

This work took us up to lunch time, and a short but well deserved break. After lunch, we elected to replace one more tie that had a broken end. We were able to get the work done and tools and equipment put away before the wind really started blowing.

I have included a few photos of today’s activity. You may spot a couple of us breaking a sweat!

– Paul

Photos by Paul and Bruce!

On Sunday, March 8, volunteers Dwight, Colin, Bruce, Chris, Ben, Kendall, Reid, Dannis, Nick, Dianne, Ron, John, and Paul got our train ready and provided a nice set of rides to a large group of folks who came out to support the Museum.

This event was in conjunction with a presentation that was held at Pueblo Union Depot to update folks about the Front Range Passenger Rail Initiative, and an upcoming request to voters to approve a tax which will help provide rail service along the Front Range. There was some overlap of customers from this presentation, along with others who just attended our Museum event. During this event, we were able to work with some new signage that is hoped to help passengers better understand where the locomotive and cabooses are located for boarding. It was a successful event with over 150 people attending.

I have included a few photos I was able to grab while busy running the train.

– Paul

On Saturday, March 7, volunteers Dwight, Bruce, Chris, Kendall, Dannis, Nick, Ben, Reid, and Paul worked at the D Street Shop to get our caboose equipment cleaned and ready for use for our first event of 2026 on March 8. We also needed to start Engine 103 to switch equipment for the proper consist for the event. While starting the locomotive, we ran into some trouble with a relay causing the fuel pump to stop. After solving that issue, we had a good start and finished the work. After the equipment switching was completed, Engine 103 was taken out to the main running track to check the track and locations for the event on Sunday.

While bringing Engine 103 back into the shop to tie up, we suffered a minor derailment on a sharp curve leading into the shop yard. So it turned into a training event for some of the volunteers, to learn what is needed to rerail a locomotive. We successfully got the engine back on the track, repaired the rails to keep the incident from happening again, and were finally able to tie up about an hour later.

I have included some photos of the work completed before the incidents.

– Paul

On Saturday, February 28, volunteers Dwight, Colin, Bruce, Kendall, Chris, Dannis, Jerod, Reid and Paul spread out and covered multiple projects. Bruce, Jerod and Reid jumped on the C&S Caboose and installed some roofing on the cupola. Chris and Dwight got busy working on an axle for the Gang Car. Kendall, Dannis and Paul worked to top off the hydraulic fluid on several pieces of equipment. These projects lasted up until lunchtime, when Colin ran out to grab pizza for everyone.

After lunch, Dwight and Chris kept at their project with the Gang Car axle, while the rest of the gang headed out to the track construction to install a couple sets of joint bars. It took a bit of searching to locate suitable joint bars, but Bruce and Reid delivered by finding bars that fit! Once the bolts were tightened on the track, things were looking pretty good. The gang tied up with a little discussion of upcoming projects and next weekend’s event with Front Range Passenger Rail.

I have included a few photos of today’s activities.

– Paul

Join the Pueblo Railway Museum for Train Rides at the Depot on Sunday, March 8, and find out what’s new with Front Range Passenger Rail. FRPR will present an update in the Pueblo Union Depot from 1PM to 2:30PM. Train rides will be available from 12PM to 4PM behind the Depot. Train ride tickets are $15 for a ride in the engine, and $10 for a ride in one of our three cabooses. Children under 3 ride the train free! Cash or check preferred, but credit cards accepted. Train ride tickets can only be purchased during the event. Purchase your tickets at our Gift Shop, a converted caboose behind the Depot, near the passenger boarding area. Trains depart every 20 minutes, so there will be multiple opportunities during the event to ride the train.

There is no admission fee to attend the event itself. The presentation by FRPR is also free to attend. The charge is only for the train ride.

Our train ride event schedule for 2026 can be found on our Events Page. We will be adding more events as the year progresses. To receive updates about our upcoming events, follow our blog. Enter your email address on the bottom of this web page and click the “follow” button.

On Saturday, February 21, volunteers Dwight, Colin, Dannis, Reid, Jerod and Paul started the day with warming up some equipment after an overnight low in the teens. Once the equipment started moving without any groans, we were able to gather some cross ties and get them placed along the ground prepared for track that we worked on last week. The gang then plugged the holes in the ties before gathering a bunch of tie plates to spread out. After a lunch break, we returned to dig out two sticks of rail and get them in place for future work to spike them down. We finished the day moving some more equipment around in the yard before calling it a day.

I have included a few pictures I was able to capture of the action today.

– Paul

On Saturday, February 14, volunteers Dwight, Bruce, Jerod, Ben, Dannis and Paul worked down the list of issues we had planned. Bruce and Dannis continued work reassembling windows into our C&S Caboose, and completed the installation, which picked up the pieces left from previous volunteers, and closed the holes on the walls of the car. The remainder of the volunteers worked on the Case Tractor and Massey Ferguson fork truck, solving some problems that occur to equipment that sits idle. Both pieces of equipment had fuel system problems and a couple of other minor issues. Luckily with older equipment, a little tinkering can usually fix things. We broke for lunch with both pieces of equipment ready for use.

After lunch, we did a little clean up of junk in the yard, and then did some dirt work and track alignment on the new spur track being built. Overall we had a good day, and we were able to get a lot of little nagging issues solved, and some real work done.

I have included a few pictures of the work done today.

– Paul

On Saturday, February 7, volunteers Dwight, Bruce, Colin, Jerod, Chris T., Ben, Dannis, and Paul enjoyed a very nice day and stayed busy, first retrieving a switch stand that Museum member/volunteer Petar had stored and wanted the Museum to use. The crew then split up, with Bruce and Dannis doing some interior work on the C&S caboose, while the remainder of the crew headed out to the yard to sort and re-stack track material that we hope to be installing later this year. Some other clean up was completed before breaking for lunch.

For the afternoon, we cleaned out the cabooses and both engines 103 & 104 cabs that needed to be done after the last event. We spent some time planning some work we hope to start on later this year on our track project and in the AT&SF caboose. We finished the day testing an air horn that Paul brought in, sorry no sound track for this.

I have included some pictures of today’s activities though, so you can see the action!

– Paul