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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 a museum and displays of narrow gauge railroading and models, and to support preservation efforts where possible.  The Foundations first priority is to establish interpretive displays where the narrow gauge story can be told using models, pictures, artwork, and artifacts, in ways that will be meaningful both to enthusiasts and to the general public. Plans include exhibits located at the Colorado Railroad Museum, Cumbres & Toltec's Chama Visitor's Center, Durango & Silverton"s Durango museum, California State Railroad Museum and other sites as appropriate. The exhibits at each site are planned to relate to equipment operated or displayed at each exhibit site. Long-range plans include a Narrow Gauge experience co-located with the Howell Day Museum to be established by the National Model Railroad Association, likely at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. A secondary mission is to assist
narrow gauge preservation efforts 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 the Narrow Gauge Museum, the Foundation seeks to tell a different story in the different way. During its existence, the Foundation has made donations of nearly 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.
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