Colorado Railroad Photographs

About the Colorado Railroad Photographs

In their early years, railroads did much more than carry passengers across the country. The Iron Horse helped settle the West by building rail branches to uncharted areas. The Denver Public Library’s Digital Collections includes 20,000+ historical railroad photographs from notable railroad photographers such as Robert Richardson and Otto Perry, including a large portion of Perry’s works.

Included are images of standard and narrow gauge railroads in Colorado and the West; locomotives, passenger and freight cars, structures, and terminals. Many rail lines such as the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the Rio Grande Southern, and the Union Pacific Railroad are represented.