Ridgway RR Museum
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Motor 1 on the Durango and Silverton



RIDGWAY RAILROAD MUSEUM DIRECTOR/MECHANIC

Position description: This is a year-round, full-time, salaried position (but could be part-time, depending on the individual).  Salary will depend on skills and experience.  Duties include organizing and leading the museum’s volunteers in our mission of education and preservation of our unique narrow gauge railroad history, planning and implementing our budget/business plan as established by the Board of Directors, shaping and implementing the future growth of the museum, and other duties as assigned. The position also requires hands-on work on the museum’s collections, including inspecting, servicing, maintaining, repairing and operation of our various Motors and Galloping Goose railcars, as well as a steam locomotive in the future, with help from volunteers as suitable. This position reports to the President of the Board of Directors. 

Salary and benefits:  Salary up to $4500/month for full time, or up to $2250/month for half time, depending on qualifications.  Museum truck provided.  Paid vacation/sick leave (total of 1 week per 3 months, 4 weeks/year fulltime, 2 weeks/year part time), but no additional health care or other benefits provided.  As this is the museum’s only paid position, there is no promotion potential.

For information or to apply:  contact Karl Schaeffer at knjschaeffer@MSN.com or 970-318-0322.

The Ridgway Railroad Museum (www.ridgwayrailroadmuseuem.org) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational museum and an equal opportunity employer.


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https://www.facebook.com/Ridgway-Railroad-Museum-499676064136341/

The museum is now relocated to our rail yard and half-mile mile loop track at 200 N. Railroad St. The exhibited rail equipment is available for public viewing at all times.

 We will be operating our equipment on Saturdays this spring,  summer and fall (2023) from 9 am to 12 noon.  Go to the  following URL to see Motor No 1 in operation on our half-mile loop.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OzqlMHB9Io


Our annual Work Week will take place June 12-16, 2023. Please plan on attending.

Railroad Days will take place Sept 22-24, 2023. Plan on attending. See the <Railroad Days> page for details.


We have  added pdf spreadsheets to our <Archival Material> page with information on documents relating to all of the RGS motors as well as documents involving W. D. Lee and V. A. Miller.

RGS Steam Returns to Ridgway

Silverton Railroad Guston Depot Rebuilt

The Ridgway Railroad Museum is a non-profit 501(C)3 corporation. Donations to the museum are tax deductible.

If you are interested in participating in any of our projects in any way, please click here.

Ridgway, Colorado, long known as the birthplace of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, is the home of a museum dedicated to the preservation of the history of railroading in Ouray County and surrounding areas.

The Ridgway Railroad Museum, located at 200 N. Railroad Street in Ridgway, Colorado, is open every day to see our outdoor collection of railroad cars and other equipment. There is no charge to visit the museum but we do accept donations. Some of the cars are open when we are working at the museum on Tuesday mornings from May to October. We also give rides on Motor No. 1 and Goose No. 4 in the summer on Saturdays.

The Ridgway Railroad Museum is a non-profit, member supported organization whose mission is to explain and interpret the role and significance of railroads in the history of this region by use of exhibits, a reference library, educational programs, publications and sharing information with historical and modeling groups.

The Museum will preserve railroad equipment, artifacts, historical data, books and photographs of Ouray County and the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. For a brief history of the museum click here.

The Museum plans a full schedule of events for each year We post the schedule as it develops. For further information, click on the Event Calendar button to the left. For a membership application, or information on other topics, click on the appropriate button to the left.

In addition, the summer months find Museum members working outside on restoration projects on our collection of rolling stock. Workdays occur on both weekdays and weekends. Do carpentry and painting while working on your tan. If you would like to participate in one of our summer workdays please contact us.

If you are planning on visiting the museum and need lodging and restaurant information please visit our lodging page.

The Keith Koch Memorial Restoration Fund

Photos and Details from 2014 Restoration Week

Photos and Details from 2013 Restoration Week

Photos and Details from 2012 Restoration Week

Photos and details from 2011 Restoration Week

Photos and details from the 2010 Restoration Week.

The Museum has published two books.  The first book is entitled Narrow Gauge Railroading in the San Juan Triangle. See details. The second book is entitled The History and Restoration of Galloping Goose No. 4. See details

Front Cover Triangle  Front Goose
                  cover  

           

We have begun to list all of our archival material on the Archival Material Page. These include pdf files of RGS Employee Timetables and Annual Reports, RGS Time Sheets, a list of Maps and Drawings, etc.

You can now pay your membership dues or make a donation using PayPal. See Membership page for details.


Ridgway Railroad Museum Train Shed and Half Mile Loop



All original materials, text, and images Copyright 2023 by the Ridgway Railroad Museum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use or reproduction of any materials, text and images without the express written permission of the Ridgway Railroad Museum is strictly prohibited.

All rights to materials, text, and images attributed to other sources are reserved to those sources. Unauthorized use or reproduction of any these materials, text and images without the express written permission of the owners is strictly prohibited.