Ridgway Railroad Museum Awarded Railway Heritage Grant

The National Railway Historical Society has announced that it has awarded a 2005 Railway Heritage Grant to the Ridgway Railroad Museum. The grant is one of twelve nationwide awards given to museums and historical societies to assist with preservation of our nation's railroad history. The $2740 award will pay for materials that the Ridgway Museum will use to cosmetically and structurally restore two recently acquired historic railcars - a drop-bottom gondola and a 4000-series work car, both used on the Denver and Rio Grande Western in southwestern Colorado.

The prestigious grant is the second awarded to the Ridgway Railroad Museum by the NRHS in the last six years. "We are honored to be selected to receive this grant by this prestigious organization," said Museum Vice-President Jim Pettengill. "We were very fortunate to be able to acquire these cars last autumn from the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Cars identical to these operated here in Ouray County for many years.  We plan to have the cosmetic work completed by September's Railroad Days event, with structural restoration completed by next summer."

Other Colorado recipients of this year's NRHS grants were the Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Pueblo Railway Foundation.