what is the Narrow Gauge Preservation Foundation?

First established as the Narrow Gauge Trust in 2000, then incorporated as the Narrow Gauge Preservation Foundation in 2002, the Foundation is a non-profit public benefit corporation incorporated in the State of California. Its mission is to establish several interactive exhibits where the public can learn about the rich and significant history of narrow gauge railroading, and to support preservation efforts where possible.

Two views of the NGPF's Chama interactive exhibit. On the right, Board member Furukawa shows the "Chama" diorama to the Governor of New Mexico.

The Foundation's first priority is to establish a number of interactive exhibits where the narrow gauge story can be told using state-of-the-art video, models, pictures, artwork, and artifacts in ways that will be meaningful both to enthusiasts and to the general public. An exhibit in Chama, New Mexico, terminus of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, is the first. It opened in May, 2011. Future exhibit sites may include Golden, Colorado (home of the Colorado Railroad Museum) and Sacramento's expansive California State Railroad Museum.

Each Exhibit includes interactive video presentations and models, dioramas, photographs, artwork, and artifacts of significance to the story being told.

A secondary mission is to assist narrow gauge preservation effort s across North America.

When resources are available, the Foundation evaluates the soundness and likelihood of success of such efforts, and channels donations to those that qualify.

The Foundation supports the efforts, past and current, of numerous existing museums and preservation organizations, and in no way seeks to compete with them. In fact the Foundation has made grants to several of these organizations to further their work of restoring irreplaceable equipment and structures. In establishing exhibits in rich historic narrow gauge locales, the Foundation seeks to tell a different story in the different way.

During its existence, the Foundation has made donations of over a million dollars to narrow gauge preservation efforts. These include the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway, the Colorado Railroad Museum, Friends of Engine 169, the Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge Railroad Foundation, and the Durango Railroad Historical Society.

To date, the Foundation has spent less than five percent of its funds on administrative costs.