#PIKES PEAK COG RAILROAD UPGRADE#

In September 1889, hundreds of foreign laborers began construction almost all the work was done with simple tools - pickaxes, shovels, and wheelbarrows. The newly chartered Manitou & Pike’s Peak Railway Company of 1888 used a standard gauge, nine-mile-long, center double-toothed Abt Rail cog system to cope with grades up to 25 percent along the way (the average grade is 16 percent). The idea for the cog railway is credited to former Manitou Springs Mayor John Hulbert, a Civil War veteran and investor in the original failed venture. In 1883, a group of investors began to work on a 27-mile-long narrow gauge adhesion railroad to the summit, but financial issues quickly torpedoed that effort. The plan to build a railroad to the summit of Pikes Peak dates back to the early 1880s. The nine-mile railroad is one of only two cog railways in the United States and it’s also among the busiest tourist railroads in Colorado (a state with more than its fair share of heritage railways). After a hiatus of almost four years, Broadmoor, Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway resumed running in May 2021 and, following a $100 million rebuild, the future of the world’s highest cog railway appears secure.

Justin Franz photoįortunately, that didn’t happen. The building on the right was once a trolley depot but now houses the cog railway’s main offices. Was this to be the end of more than a century of operation, pushing the iconic cog railway to the pages of history like other local railroads, such as Colorado Midland, Midland Terminal, and Mount Manitou Incline Railways?ĪBOVE: A train prepares to depart the rebuilt Manitou Springs, Colo., station on October 22, 2021.

#PIKES PEAK COG RAILROAD UPGRADE#

But that pause in service revealed that a lot of money would be needed to upgrade the century-old cog railway to 21st century standards. Six months before that press release was issued, the railroad had been shut down in late 2017 for maintenance. The release went on to point out that operations were doubtful for the railway’s foreseeable future, given the lack of maintenance on the equipment and right-of-way for the previous decade. The Broadmoor Hotel, which owns the railway operation, issued a terse press release stating that after 126 years in business, there would be no spring 2018 reopening, after an almost-six-month shutdown. More information is available from Special Interest Tours’ website.In March 2018, the future of Colorado’s Broadmoor, Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway was in doubt. The original article is available online.ĭid you know that Trains Magazine offers Colorado Railroad tours? In 2018, Trains‘ staff will host a guided tour to Colorado’s best railroad destinations in time for peak fall colors. It is the highest rail line in North America and, for most of its history, has ferried passengers to the top of Pike’s Peak - the mountain - from Manitou Springs, Colo., at the base. The Pikes Peak opened as the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railroad in 1891 with Baldwin-built steam locomotives.

Jack Damioli, president and CEO of The Broadmoor hotel, which owns the 8.9-mile rail line, tells the Colorado Springs Gazette that after months of winter maintenance the railroad could remain closed for up to another three years while the hotel studies its future.Īt that point, Broadmoor leadership would either close the railroad permanently or rebuild it, which could take “tens of millions of dollars” the newspaper quotes Damioli as saying.ĭuring the winter maintenance, railroaders review the condition of the equipment and track and determined that it had reached the end of its useful life, the newspaper reports. Pikes Peak Cog Railway’s operator says there is a chance that the famed rack railroad of the Rockies will close for good.

Pikes peak cog railroad