Historic 130-Year-Old Railway Reopens in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains

A one-of-a-kind train system that’s transported visitors to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado for 130 years has just gotten a new lease on life.

Following a three-year closure and a $100 million, full-scale renovation—which involved replacing the trains themselves, re-laying the track, reimagining the rail stations and constructing a new depot and the Pikes Peak Visitor Center—the historic Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is back in operation.

Recognized as the world’s highest cog railway (it’s actually only one of two such railways in the entire U.S.), its mechanisms are uniquely designed to handle its winding route through the majestic Rocky Mountains with grades as steep as 25 percent.

Known as “America’s Mountain”, Pikes Peak boasts breathtaking panoramic views over the forested landscapes that are said to have inspired the song “America the Beautiful”, and the hour-long journey to the top is equally filled with awe-inspiring sights.

Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway has been delivering passengers to the peak since its first completion in 1891. It remains an important component of the Western U.S.’ heritage, partially because it was such a groundbreaking endeavor at a time when settlers were new to the region and local mining towns were still young.

“We believe that the Broadmoor is kind of the gateway to the American West,” said Jack Damioli, president and CEO at The Broadmoor hotel in nearby Colorado Springs, which owns the railway today.

The cog railway’s trains are able to ascend over 14,000 feet to the summit at such steep inclines thanks to a special third wheel that hooks into a third rail in the center of the track.

“A cog railway is a railway just like any other railway, but we use a center third rail to get all our traction and braking. A typical railway, they get all their traction and braking through the outside rails,” Ted Johnston, assistant general manager of Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway, told CBS News.

As new decades dawned, the trains’ systems and rail cars were upgraded with 20th-century technology, but much of the railways’ infrastructure remained unchanged for over 125 years. That is, until 2018, when the line was shut down in order to conduct $100 million worth of renovations.

“We looked at everything when we did this project. The track, the trains, the depot facility that we’re at right now. And we retrofitted some of our older equipment,” said Johnston.

For the first time since they were originally laid down in the late 19th century, the tracks were completely replaced, and the company added three new trains, plus a snowblower so that they can operate in any weather conditions.

Since train systems have vastly modernized, and cog railways and accompanying parts were rare even at the time of its construction, the Pikes Peak Cog Railway engineers ended up turning to a European counterpart company for help. Switzerland’s Stadler Rail, whose trains negotiate the Alps, assisted with the manufacture and overseas shipping of new rail cars.

“The experience of going to the summit of a 14,000-foot mountain by rail has not changed. Yes, the cars are new. The track is new. But that awe-inspiring experience, it’s all the same,” Johnston said.

For more information, visit cograilway.com.