Upcoming Events:

- - -

The Royal Gorge Route Polar Express starts November 19, 2023 and runs till December 24th (Christmas Eve).

- - -

Rocky Mountain Train Show - Holiday 2023

November 25th & 26th 
The Ranch Events Complex
5280 Arena Circle Loveland, CO 80538

A Call For Nominations For The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club

and The Rocky Mountain Railroad Historical Foundation

Elections are held every December at the annual business meeting. Any member wanting to volunteer or nominate another member for either an officer or director position should contact the nominating committee, Andy Dell or Dave Schaaf at the November Club meeting or contact them through the Club website or by mail to the Club PO Box.

Notice Of Annual Meetings

The annual meetings of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club and the Rocky Mountain Railroad Historical Foundation will be held on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 7:30 PM at Christ Church, 2950 South University Boulevard, Denver, Colorado, and virtually through Zoom. These meetings are called for the purpose of electing Officers and Directors for both organizations. At these meetings the Club or Foundation may conduct any other business as may properly come before these meetings.

Membership Renewal for 2024

Renewal season is now upon us. The cost of everything has increased significantly in the last few years. Insurance costs, postage, printing, storage fees and bookkeeping fees have all steadily increased during the period of time since the last dues increase. The board of directors voted in the October meeting to increase the dues costs by $5 per year each for regular membership, USPS mailed Rail Report membership and the Contributing membership levels. This small increase may be substantial to some but it is necessary to ensure the club does not operate in the red and maintains a balanced budget. While all costs may not be fully covered by this increase, the club has many generous individuals whom are able to renew at higher levels such as the contributing, sustaining and patron levels. The additional monies that are received from these membership levels

help to fulfill some of those deficits and allows us to keep membership level increases to a minimum.

Presidents Column

As the end of 2023 nears, I wanted to state a few reminders. The first being membership renewal. Last year alone we lost nearly 40 members due to non-renewals. A large percentage of our membership does consist of older members and every year some of them pass away or develop health concerns that prevent them from being an active club member and they feel their membership dues don’t provide them with the intended value. We understand that but it seems a fair number just forget to renew. That being said I will be mailing out a renewal form in the mail this first week of November. As the board, we have found that we get a greater percentage of renewals mailing them than when we just sent an email reminder or an additional insert in the Rail Report for those receiving it via USPS.

Another item of interest will be a table of free stuff at both the November and December in person meetings at the church. Both Nathan Holmes and myself have acquired a number of items that we either have no room for or not enough interest to keep them at our homes. That being said and identified, we would like to pass these items along free of cost to our members that show up in person to the November and December meetings. These items consist of books, spikes, framed and unframed pictures and other items that have been received as part of donations from other club members that have passed on or just items we don’t have room for. If you are interested in some free stuff, please show up to our November and December meetings in person if you happen to be in the Denver area on those nights.

For fall break this year, my wife, daugher and I all took a trip to the Black Hills, SD. My daughter had never been and I had not explored there since Labor Day of 2008. We were also able to meet up with my parents that now live in Springfield, MO for a late 50th wedding anniversary celebration! On Sunday October 15^th, the last day of their regular 2023 season, we rode the 1880 train in Hill City, SD. As I had hoped, we were able to ride behind one of the two Mallet type steam locomotives owned and operated by the tourist train. “Locomotive #108 joined its nearly identical twin, #110, at the beginning of the 2020 season following a four-year restoration. This 2-6-6-2T articulated tank engine was built by the Baldwin Locomotives Works in 1926 for the Potlatch Lumber Company. It later made its way to Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and eventually to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, Washington.” -1880 Train website. These locomotives are certainly unique as they are both tank engines.