Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway Depot - Train Stations/Depots on Waymarking.com

This is the highest elevation rack railway, and at 8.9 miles, is the second longest in the world and the only railway of this type west of the Mississippi. A rack railway has a center, cogged rail, called a rack that enables trains to climb steep inclines. Since opening, millions have ridden nearly 8,000 feet up to Pikes Peak's summit.

Before the railway opened June 1891, visitors reached Pikes Peak's summit by burro or on foot. In the late 1880's, the mattress manufacturer Zalmon Simmons made the grueling , two-day trip "in slippery silk breeches on the back of a stiff-legged mule." Simmons ordeal convinced him of the wisdom of local entrepreneur John Hulbert's vision of a train to the top. He joined Hulbert, mining tycoon Jerome Wheeler, and railroad baron David Moffat, investing heavily in the project.

Premier local contractors, the Gillis Brothers, who also built the Congregational Church and Miramont Castle, constructed the depot at the base of the railway in 1890. The depot has been enlarged twice to its current form. The original summit depot was a U.S. Army Signal Service's weather observation station. The station was transferred to the Cog Company in 1889 and later demolished in favor of the current Summit House.

From the beginning, the railway was custom-engineered and constructed, and used steam-powered trains. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers recognized the rail line as the first in this country to use its unique cog system to overcome extreme grades. In 1925, Broadmoor Hotel owner Spencer Penrose acquired the railway. On June 16, 1938, Penrose's self-contained, gasoline-powered, 23 passenger railcar made its first run.

The Cog Depot is listed as contributing to Manitou Springs 1983 National Register and 1980 Local Historic Preservation Districts.