The Colorado Midland Railway will be closed until after the Spring of 2014.
At this point we as a club are still not 100% certain of the future of the layout. Plans have been proposed that only change 10% or less of the layout to a total reduction to a 4000 square foot space surrounded by a glass box. The developer of Union Station Hotel has been very cooperative with us given the great value of real estate.
The power will be turned off in the station this Fall and nobody except authorized personal will be allowed into the facility for as long as 24 months but not longer than March of 2014 when Amtrak will return to the facility and the new Denver Union Terminal. A representative of our club will be allowed in at certain times to inspect progress and if changes are considered durning the construction the contractors will allow us to access and consult with them. So far we have had a good experience; hopefully this will be the sign of things to come.
Currently we are the oldest O scale model railroad in the US. the current layout was first constructed during the Depression in 1935. Over the decades and generations of membership many changes have taken place. The University of Colorado will be doing a laser 3D scan of the layout to preserve the layout in state of the art 21 Century technology. The first time this has been done to a model railroad to our knowledge. Already progress has been made to document the 80 years of modeling on the railroad.
As an operator I would like to see a new layout design; I also understand the historical elements that make the railroad so unique. The next 80 years will be interesting to say the least; but one thing is for sure the Colorado Midland will be here.
Keep tabs on progress; we will post them on our website.
