Pikes Peak on the Cog Railway
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The view from the Colorado Springs airport.
That tall one with snow is Pikes Peak, Cheyenne Mountain is second from left.
(click on any image for a larger view; click back to return)
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Since 1891, the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway has taken passengers to the 14,110 foot summit of Pikes Peak, a journey of 8.9 miles one way. It's the world's highest cog railroad, the highest Colorado railroad AND highest train in the United States. The station is in Manitou Springs, 6 miles from Colorado Springs. | |
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Look at the changing angles of the windows. The grade ranged up to 25%. |
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tree line |
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Snow plow crew working ahead of us |
snow plow |
The previous day, the train trip almost ended here at Windy Point because the plow couldn't get through |
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Thank you, snow plow |
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Near the top, you can see the road up to Pikes Peak winding back and forth.
Two-thirds
of the 20-mile road to the top is not paved.
Don't look down. |
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The end of the line--don't look down again. |
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new station
both closed by the snow
old station
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| Seeing the tracks climbing ahead made the height more real on the way up, but feeling the brakes fighting off gravity tugging at the train on the way down was an even more intense experience. |
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The engineer said the train would come to an abrupt halt if it went faster than 9.3 mph. The interpreter assured us that if the brakes holding back the train failed, two springs would catch the train....Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs at the bottom of the mountain. |
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Airplane contrail over the mountains |
| Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway Website |
Rest stop |
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