D&RGW RPO #119

This is an amazing opportunity to partake in the restoration and upkeep of an historic piece of Colorado narrow gauge history! D&RGW Railroad Post Office car #119 was built in 1883 by Jackson and Sharp and served as a post office car for most of its life. The car was remodeled and lengthened in 1924 for the “San Juan Express” first class train, and regularly saw service between Durango and Alamosa. In the late 1950’s, the car was relegated to Maintenance-of-Way service before being sold to the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in 1981. She briefly saw service as a passenger depot in Rockwood for the “Animas River Railroad,” but was soon sent back to the Durango yard and was sidelined. Over the years, she fell into major disrepair, and was under-appreciated until bought by myself (Kyle Colley) in 2020. 

My goal is simple: Restore, interpret, and share the history of this amazing car.

I plan to give a full-service restoration of the car, but the process will be very slow and quite expensive as the car is in such rough shape.

Any and all help is appreciated, and with the first goal of moving the car complete, the next hurdle is to raise funds to build a roof over the car to prevent further decay.

Thank you once again! 

K. W. Colley