On July 28, 2026 at Union Pacific’s North Yard in Denver, Intermountain Chapter President, Robert Brewster, presented a Chapter P-R-O Fund check to Michelle Kempena, Executive Director of the Colorado Model Railroad Museum in Greeley. The Chapter’s check will complement the NRHS Heritage Grant awarded to the CMRM earlier this year for the classroom-in-a-cabosse project at the Museum site. Lurking in the background is UP’s tired Big Boy, fresh off its east coast journey and anxious to return to its Cheyenne home the next day.
On July 18, 2026, Intermountain Chapter President, Robert Brewster, hands over a Chapter P-R-O Fund check to Paul Blanchard, chief volunteer coordinator at the South Park Rail Society’s newly acquired Como Roundhouse. The check is to be used as matching funds for the next major acquisition - the large parcel of land that comprises much of the Como Campus. Securing these parcels will protect the properties under non-profit status for many years into the future. In the background is steam locomotive #4, “Klondike Kate,” which is undergoing a major rebuilding so it can operate on the rails around the Como site, perhaps during the 2027 season.
On July 18, 2026, Intermountain Chapter President, Robert Brewster, delivers a Chapter P-R-O check to Mr. Bob Schoppe, President of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Historical Society (DSPPHS). The funds are meant to complement the 2026 NRHS Heritage Grant award to the Society for its South Park Zephyr project - a recreation of the 1937-38 original SPZ, which was a Ford Model T converted to rail operation. The original SPZ was well-documented as it ran over all of the rails of the South Park Line, then known as the Colorado & Southern narrow gauge, before the rails were pulled up in 1938. The “new” SPZ will also be an original Model T, modified for rail use, and will give Como visitors a chance to experience what rail enthusiasts some 90 years ago enjoyed, as they ride the SPZ on the relaid rails of Como. Maybe 2027?
On March 10, 2026, the Intermountain Chapter awarded another P-R-O grant to the Colorado Railroad Museum for their most ambitious land acquisition program. Such contributions will help the Museum expand for future exhibits and more rails. Shown is CRRM Executive Director, Paul Hammond, accepting the check from a Chapter representative. This was at a special event at the Museum that featured a showing of Rich Luckin’s “Passenger Trains Remembered,” which was very well received on both evenings it was shown.
Before our two-trolley charter on August 9, 2025, Chapter president Bob Brewster presented a P-R-O Fund check to officials of the Fort Collins Trolley.
On August 19, 2023,Intermountain Chapter treasurer, Gary Gable, delivered a Chapter P-R-O Fund check to Bob Schoppe, president of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Historical Society, during Boreas Pass Day in Como, Colorado.
The Intermountain Chapter is pleased to announce we’ve awarded our first P-R-O Fund Grant of the year to the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad on 7/31/23. Pictured here is Chapter President Robert Brewster presenting the check to Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad President Tim Tennant.
In 2021, the Chapter presented the Colorado Railroad Museum with a P-R-O check, which we had promised a few years before for the canopy fund to cover and protect our former Car 96. Shown are (left to right) Rich Luckin, Chapter VP at the time, Rob Kramer, CRRM Deputy Director, and the late Rob Reilly, Chapter Treasurer.