When I was a kid, many Thursday nights were spent at CRRM. Bob Richardson would pull out boxes of old raiload records, and he would go thru them with my father. They would get excited over finding things like train orders for a rotary run on the RGS.
My father met Bob in Durango when Bob was preparing to move RGS 42. My father was working on the D&RGW Bridge and Building gang, and was told to help him prepare it for the move out of Durango. They remained friends ever since.
In 2003, I had dinner with my dad and Bob Richardson. Once again, it was story night, with clear recollection of the details of narrow gauge train chasing. One of the stories that came out was choosing Golden for CRRM. Bob stated that he could have had unlimited property if he had decided to go to where the Denver Tech' Center is now. But, my father knew of a farm off of 44th Avenue, about a block away from where he grew up. It was owned by a widow named Bell, and was for sell. Bob made an offer on the place, and a short time later, the two of them were moving Goose #2 from Alamosa to Golden. Goose #2 was the fist arrival. Somewhere there's pictures of the two of them unloading this on a late afternoon with snow falling.
This story may have a few details added or missing. Bob is no longer with us, and time has taken my father's memory. But, CRRM has become a special place for countless people.