In Durango, tucked in the back of the rail yard, you'll discover the 12,000-square-foot D&SNG Railroad Museum. The Museum was created in 1998 utilizing 8 stalls of the 'new' 15-stall roundhouse built in 1989. It is the only narrow gauge roundhouse built in the 20th century and was built after the tragic roundhouse fire of February 1989. The silver lining when the 1881 roundhouse burned was the opportunity to build an all-new facility with modern lighting, heat, and machine shop. The larger structure allowed the chance to open a Museum to share railroad memories with the world. Many families and old railroad workers have donated or provided artifacts that tell the history of railroading, especially on the D&RGW line. An 800-square-foot model railroad was donated as a shell and brought to life by thousands of volunteer hours to depict the 1950s operations of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad including trains passing a Drive-In theater!

The museum staff is knowledgeable in the history and current affairs of the local railroad. With a large selection of railroad history books, the staff is available as a great resource to help you find more information. Permanent displays include lanterns, locks & keys, photographs, paintings and many of the tools of railroading. Steam locomotives, railroad cars and other equipment dating back to the 1880s are available to see up-close. Adults and kids alike will enjoy the chance to explore the cab of a locomotive, see the view from the fireman and engineer's seats, and handle the levers and gauges they have only seen from afar. A baggage car used in the1969 movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is now a movie theatre. Business car B-7, built in 1880 and beautifully restored in 2001 as the owners' private family car, is usually on display to see what it was like to travel the rails in the 19th century. The Museum is the terminus of the Polar Express train and for a couple of weeks is also the home of Durango's Community Connections Inc.'s annual fundraiser "Festival of Trees".

Pre-arranged, guided tours are offered during business hours and introduce many school-age children to the story of railroading in Durango.