Growing up in Durango, every third grader at Riverview Elementary got to take a train ride on the D&S at some point. The D&S has a fantastic school program that offers packets to kids and teachers. The packets help prepare the kids for the trip, setting up a bit of the history and context. On-board the train, there were I-Spy pages, charts for the whistle signals, and information on the train crew and who they were. The kids also have to ask staff basic questions about the railroad through a "fill in the blank" section. Basically, because we were lucky enough to grow up in a town with a railroad... local history was definitely a part of the elementary school curriculum. I think many tourist railroads do something like that, offering discounts to large school groups and providing educational packets. If they don't, they are missing out on a huge opportunity. In high school as the Gold King Mine Spill was happening, our history and chemistry teachers teamed up to teach an entire section on the mining history of the town and the railroad that supported it. We took trips to Silverton to collect water samples and analyze them, while in history class we studied Colorado's history. Of course, it was very "anti-mining" teaching... sort of framed as "if we had known what we know now" type stuff.
Interestingly though, I was working at the railroad while in high school, and there were a few days when I was asked to work as a Brakeman on a school day. I remember my principle saying that I was getting much more of an education working for the railroad than I was in school and that he fully supported me missing a few days a month as long as I kept up with my work. The D&S was such a part of everyday life in Durango, I felt like it was covered pretty well in my education.
As far as national railroad history though... I didn't actually "learn" anything about it in the context of school until my sophomore year of college. I took an "American History post 1865" class and we briefly touched on it. I wrote my final paper on the subject and my professor noted that he should probably talk about it in more detail. I compared that accomplishment to the moon landing and how both events were incredibly important to the progress of our nation.
