The Greeley Freight Station Museum (GFSM) is designed to be a part of the City of Greeley Museums in Greeley, Colorado. The building and grounds will be donated to the city at the appropriate time, probably when each element of the project is totally completed.

Funding will come from private donations and will be over a million dollars. The building is finished and has 9,500 square feet on the main floor and another 2,000 feet in mezzanine, storage and break room space. The featured element, a 5,500 sq. foot HO gauge model railroad layout, will have ten separate wiring systems, 20+ scale miles of mainline track, hundreds of buildings (many of which have been scratch built), thousands of hand made trees and scenery never before attempted on a model railroad. The layout will be configured so that it might operate automatically in a “show” mode, and in manual “operational” mode for train running sessions. The wharf areas will feature ships that are fully operational “in the field”, along with a full-scale model of the 729 foot ore carrier, Edmund Fitzgerald.

The museum will also display over 1,100 railroad artifacts from across the United States. Signals, signs, keys, locks, photos, tools, towels, passes, timetables, lanterns, etc. The largest “artifact” will be the last wooden caboose from the Colorado and Southern railroad to be operated on that railroad's system: C&S caboose 10583, which was retired in 1974. The caboose is fully furnished inside and out and will be open for public inspection when the museum is open.

The museum is located between two actual railroad properties: the Union Pacific on the east and the Great Western on the west, so visitors can also “train watch” during their visit to the GFSM.

An admission charge is anticipated, probably something like $4 per adult and $2 per child, or $8 per family. All proceeds will be donated to downtown Greeley charities such as the Women's Ministry Center, the Hispanic Relief Fund, and the Weld County Food Bank. Representatives from each charity will take turns collecting the admissions during days the museum is open, and any fees they collect will be retained by them to use for their charity. All admission fees, no matter who they are collected and retained by, will be report to the museum manager so a log can be kept of yearly monies raised for the charities.

PURPOSE

Our purpose is to construct a small railroad museum that will be noted for its world class, full scenery model railroad which will attract visitors from around the country and the world. The appeal will be for all people of all ages, but mostly, to display what serious model railroading might look like on a large scale. We will also have a sizable railroad artifact collection for viewing and will be able to offer presentations to visiting clubs, railroad groups, church groups, school classes, service organizations and retirement homes. Our assembly area is large enough to handle two bus groups in a single visit.

Mission statement

“To continue to enhance and rehabilitate the downtown Greeley area and to add to the quality of life for locals and visitors alike though historic education and entertainment.”