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COLORADO RAILROAD HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC

EIN 84-6037753 GOLDEN, CO

Revenue 2023
$3,542,093
Expenses 2023
$3,395,532

Program services were 81.5% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
A540
Classification
2300
Street
PO BOX 10

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2023

Mission

THE MISSION OF THE COLORADO RAILROAD HISTORICAL FOUNDATION, INC. IS TO PRESERVE AND CONVEY THE RICH HISTORY OF RAILROADING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION THROUGH ACQUISITION, RESEARCH, EXHIBITION, AND EDUCATION.

Activities or mission (Part I)

ACQUIRE, PRESERVE, AND EXHIBIT LOCOMOTIVES, CARS, ARTIFACTS AND RECORDS PERTAINING TO CO RAILROADS.

  • THE MUSEUM EXISTS TO SHARE COLORADO'S RICH RAILROAD HERITAGE WITH THE WIDEST POSSIBLE AUDIENCE IN A HANDS-ON AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL FASHION BY PRESERVING AND MAKING ACCESSIBLE IMPORTANT HISTORIC ARTIFACTS, ARTWORK AND DOCUMENTS, AND BY OFFERING OUTSTANDING INTERPRETIVE AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS TO THE COMMUNITY. THE MUSEUM HAS SYSTEMATICALLY ACQUIRED A COLLECTION OF OVER 100 HISTORIC RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVES, PASSENGER AND FREIGHT CARS DATING FROM 1879 TO THE PRESENT, AND ALSO MANAGES ONE OF THE LARGEST ARCHIVES OF RAILROAD PRINT, PHOTOGRAPHIC AND RESEARCH MATERIALS IN THE UNITED STATES. IT IS DEDICATED TO SHARING COLORADO'S RICH RAILROAD HISTORY THROUGH THE USE OF BOTH SMALL AND LARGE ARTIFACTS, ALONG WITH ARCHIVAL MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH RAILROADING IN COLORADO AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. THE MUSEUM'S RESEARCH LIBRARY IS THE SECOND LARGEST OF ITS KIND, AND LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS ARE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF WESTERN RAILROADS AND THEIR LINES. AUTHORS OF ALL GENRES MAY BE FOUND RESEARCHING TIMETABLES, PAYROLL RECORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THEIR PROJECTS. THE MUSEUM LIBRARY IS ALSO HOME TO AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF RAILROAD RELATED ART, SOME OF IT PAINTED BY WORLD-FAMOUS ARTISTS, AND DONATED TO THE MUSEUM BY DEDICATED COLLECTORS. THIS COLLECTION IS SOMETIMES LOANED TO OTHER INSTITUTIONS IN COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS. SINCE 1961 THE MUSEUM HAS PUBLISHED OVER 50 SCHOLARLY BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS ON THE RAILROADS OF COLORADO AND THE WEST THAT ARE INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED BY HISTORIANS. THE COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM HAS BEEN RANKED AMONG THE TOP 25 DENVER AREA ATTRACTIONS BY DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL AND AS ONE OF THE TOP 10 PAID ATTRACTIONS BY VISIT DENVER.THE COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF ITS FULL-SIZE RAIL VEHICLE COLLECTION. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE OF HISTORIC ROLLING STOCK CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. BY ENSURING THAT VISITORS ARE ABLE TO VIEW AND SOMETIMES RIDE PAINSTAKINGLY RESTORED RAILROAD ARTIFACTS, WE ARE ABLE TO BRING HISTORY TO LIFE AND TO INSPIRE OUR GUESTS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW RAILROADS HAVE TRANSFORMED OUR STATE, THE NATION, AND THE ENTIRE WORLD. TOUR HOSTS ADDRESS THE WAYS IN WHICH RAILROADS CONTRIBUTED TO THE DYNAMIC ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND AGRICULTURAL CHANGES IN THE AMERICAN WEST, AND HELPED CREATE MODERN-DAY COLORADO.

    Expenses $1,979,403 · Revenue $1,045,203

  • STARTING IN NOVEMBER OF 2014 AND RUNNING FOR ALMOST TWO MONTHS EACH WINTER HOLIDAY SEASON, THE STORY OF "THE POLAR EXPRESS" IS RE-CREATED. THIS THEATRICAL PRODUCTION BLENDS TOGETHER ACTORS, STAGE PRODUCTIONS, DRAMATIC ENTRANCES, AND QUIET MOMENTS OF REFLECTION AS GUESTS ARE IMMERSED IN THE SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND INTRIGUE OF THIS CLASSIC CHILDREN'S TALE. AND OF COURSE, THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION IS THEMED AROUND A MAGICAL TRAIN RIDE, HELPING TO CONNECT COLORADO'S RICH RAILROAD HERITAGE WITH THE BROADER INFLUENCES OF AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE.

    Expenses $789,562 · Revenue $1,447,395

As filed on the 2023 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2023

As listed in Part VII of the 2023 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • JAMES SMITH

    PRESIDENT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • KATY ZIEGLER

    VICE PRESIDENT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • TOM RICHARDSON

    SECRETARY

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • MICHAEL MAGLIERI

    TREASURER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • DOUG JUNDA

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • JEFF LILLO

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • MICHELE MILLER

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • LAUREN GIEBLER

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • MARLENE PAKISH

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • KEITH HAYES

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • JOHN BUSH

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.5

  • PAUL HAMMOND

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $126,783
    From this org
    $115,529
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $11,254
    Hours/week
    40

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2023
    Revenue
    $3,542,093
    Expenses
    $3,395,532
    Contributions
    $839,016
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $4,316,138
    Expenses
    $2,742,705
    Contributions
    $1,599,842
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,773,051
    Expenses
    $2,249,552
    Assets (EOY)
    $11,069,630

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,189,656
    Expenses
    $2,014,587
    Assets (EOY)
    $8,881,093

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,069,823
    Expenses
    $2,558,172
    Assets (EOY)
    $8,924,564

  • 2018 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,997,845
    Expenses
    $2,098,427
    Assets (EOY)
    $7,993,893

  • 2018 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,997,845
    Expenses
    $2,098,427
    Assets (EOY)
    $7,993,893

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,314,822
    Expenses
    $2,207,912
    Assets (EOY)
    $7,810,073

  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,501,351
    Expenses
    $2,447,329
    Assets (EOY)
    $7,802,371

  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,518,795
    Expenses
    $2,307,860
    Assets (EOY)
    $7,389,600

  • 2014 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,051,167
    Expenses
    $1,944,154
    Assets (EOY)
    $6,975,380

  • 2013 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,731,679
    Expenses
    $1,608,974
    Assets (EOY)
    $6,790,483

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 26 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2023, the newest we have parsed for this organization.