Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway - Pikes Peak, CO
N 38° 50.430 W 105° 02.545
13S E 496318 N 4299077
The Railway , an Abt rack system with 4-foot-8-1/2-inch-gauge track climbs Pikes Peak. #13345
Waymark Code: WMT4WC
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 09/26/2016
Views: 7
Started by Z.G. Simmons in 1889 with service to the Halfway House Hotel. The summit was reached in 1900.
Steam rack-only locomotives with inclined boilers kept them level on the average 16% grades.
A gasoline-powered car was built in 1938. It was an inexpensive alternative to steam and a huge success. The rail bought more internal combustion engines which are still operating on the mountain.
Next, in 1939, were diesel locomotives equipped with passenger cars. Some steam operations ran until the 1960s as backup and to operate the snow-clearing train.
The railway needed more equipment in 1964, A Swiss company provided two red rail cars, with engineer stand, we see today. Units 14 and 15 were added in 1964. Two more (Units 16 and 17) were provided in 1968 As of 2012 the four original Swiss trains are operating at the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway.
Tourism increased in the 1970s and the the railway added two larger two-car articulated rail cars, designated trains 18 and 19. Passing sidings were built about the same time, allowing trains to pass on the mountainside. Trains previously passed only at the Mountain View siding, permitting only three trains a day up the mountain. Eight trains per day became possible with the new equipment and sidings.
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