Rio Golden Railroad History

The Rio Golden Railroad is actually the third railroad at Heritage Square. When the Square first opened in the early 1950’s it was part of a chain called “Magic Mountain,” a Disneyland spin-off. The first railroad operated from its opening until 1956, and it was a full-sized narrow gauge (36”) line. Former Rio Grande Southern locomotive number 42 was the motive power, and when the railroad closed, it was put on display at Heritage Square until 1982, when it was sent to the Durango and Silverton Railroad in southern Colorado. It is now on display in their museum building.

The second railroad was the High Country Railroad, and it was a full-sized 24” gauge line. It ran from 1970 until 1991. The ticket booth was inherited by the third railroad to run at Heritage Square, the Rio Golden.

Construction on the 15” gauge Rio Golden Railroad began in the Fall of 1997, and was completed in the Spring of 1998. The railcars and the engine are not full-sized trains; the scale is 5”= one foot. This is not to say they are flimsy - each gondola car weighs twenty-one hundred pounds and the entire train has operating air brakes that operate just like full-size railroad brake systems. The track is built with twenty-five pound rails, almost double the usual grade used for amusement park railroads. The photos in the construction section on the photo page show the quality and care taken to insure a well-built railroad.

The goal of the builders was to create a five inch scale replica of a Colorado narrow gauge railroad. It was built to be authentic, not a ‘toy railroad’ or even an amusement park railroad. For instance, the water tank and the ticket booth were built to resemble typical structures on Colorado railroads, and were painted “Marshall Yellow,” a color chosen from paint samples found in the archives of the Colorado Railroad Museum. Marshall Yellow was taken from the color of a water tank located at Pando near Tennessee Pass. The railcars themselves have authentic railroad brakes, couplers, and wheel trucks. Our motive power has varied over the years, from a steam powered K-27 to a gasoline/hydraulic switch engine, modeled after Denver & Rio Grande Western’s famous narrow gauge number 50. The actual switcher is at the Colorado Railroad Museum, only a few miles from here.

The route of the Rio Golden Railroad is 4/5 of a mile, and travels over a 110 foot trestle, passing over the entrance to Heritage Square, almost twenty feet below. We believe a trip on the Rio Golden is well worth your time.