Each year, the Freelance Forum features a special themed train that brings together the creativity of freelance railroad owners from across the hobby. In 2025, attendees contributed 24 office cars to form a spectacular Office Car Special, which then remained on display at the Colorado Model Railroad Museum throughout the weekend.

For 2026, the tradition continues with a new theme inspired by a once‑in‑a‑generation milestone:

America 250 – Celebrating the Nation’s Semiquincentennial

Freelance road owners are invited to contribute freight cars painted in commemorative America 250 schemes honoring the 250th birthday of the United States. Patriotic paint schemes, historical tributes, and creative interpretations of the nation’s heritage are all welcome.

Specially painted locomotives are encouraged as well, giving participants the opportunity to showcase full train consists that reflect their railroad’s unique voice within the broader celebration.

These America 250 cars will be assembled into a dedicated commemorative train that will run during the event and be displayed at the museum throughout the weekend.

The beloved Office Car Special does not go away — in fact, it becomes even more integrated into the event.

Every train operating during the Forum will have at least one office car on the rear.

This keeps the spirit of the 2025 OCS alive and visible throughout the weekend.

Additional business and office cars beyond those assigned to operating trains will be displayed on the layout for visitors and attendees to enjoy.

This dual‑theme approach — America 250 freight cars and the ongoing Office Car Special tradition — creates a visually rich, highly photogenic environment that celebrates both national history and the creativity of the freelance community.

The RPM has always been defined by one thing above all else: the models. The Colorado RPM Model Display Hall at the Island Grove Event Center is the heart of the weekend — a place where modelers from across the country come together to share their finest work, exchange ideas, and celebrate the craft that makes our hobby so special.

Whether you’re a prototype modeler who obsesses over rivet patterns and paint drift, or a freelance creator building an entire railroad universe from imagination, your work belongs on the display tables. Locomotives, freight cars, cabooses, structures, dioramas, scenes, rolling stock rebuilds, weathering studies, kitbashes, scratchbuilds, and works‑in‑progress are all welcome. If it tells a story — historical or fictional — we want to see it.

Displaying models at an RPM isn’t about competition. It’s about sharing techniques, inspiring others, and contributing to the collective creativity of the community. Many of the best conversations of the weekend happen right here, between two modelers leaning over a freight car, swapping notes on weathering powders, resin casting, or how they solved a tricky handrail problem.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own printed description cards, but blank cards will be available at the RPM for both freelance and prototype categories. These cards help visitors understand the story behind your model — the inspiration, the techniques, the prototype references, or the lore of your freelance railroad.

We invite you to bring your best work — finished or in progress — and help make the 2026 Colorado RPM one of the most inspiring gatherings yet!