Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway - History

History

The railway was started by Zalmon G. Simmons, inventor and founder of the Simmons Beautyrest Mattress Company. The company was founded in 1889 and limited service to the Halfway House Hotel was started in 1890. The summit was reached the following year.

A number of steam locomotives were built for the line by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, all rack-only locomotives with steeply inclined boilers to keep them level on the average 16% grades. Operating steam locomotives on such a line was back-breaking work and expensive, so when more modern forms of traction became available, the railway was eager to modernize.

A gasoline-powered railcar was constructed in 1938, believed to be the first rack railcar in the world. It was designed to be a cheaper alternative to the steam locomotives enabling economic service during quieter times of the year. Proving a huge success, the railway soon bought more internal combustion engined trains. This car is still in operation on the mountain, though it is a different color than originally.

The next were five 'streamlined' diesel locomotives from General Electric, which were equipped with matching passenger cars, acquired from 1939 onward. These slowly supplanted the steam locomotives, though some steam operations persisted until the 1960s as backup power and to operate the snow-clearing train (where their greater weight meant they were less likely to derail). A number of the steam locomotives are now on static display, in Manitou and elsewhere, and the Railway still has an operational steam locomotive (#4) and an original coach. However, the steam locomotive was actually put out of service for many years before being retrieved from a museum and brought back to service in 1980.

In 1964 the railway needed more equipment, but General Electric was not interested in the business, so the railway went abroad, to Switzerland, home of the vast majority of the world's cog railways. In 1964, the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works in Winterthur provided two bright red railcars (railcars contain a seating compartment as well as engineer stand, eliminating the need for a separate pushing locomotive), very similar to equipment in use on many Swiss railways. Units 14 and 15 were delivered and began service in 1964. Two more (Units 16 and 17) were provided in 1968 when the first two proved their worth. As of 2012, all four original Swiss trains are still in operation at the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. These locomotives, and all locomotives following are now powered by biodiesel.

With increasing tourism in the 1970s, the railway needed more capacity, and in 1976 took delivery of two larger two-car articulated railcars from the Swiss Locomotive Works of Winterthur, designated Train 18 and Train 19. At about the same time, passing sidings were built in several places, allowing trains to pass at various points on the mountainside. Previously, trains could pass only at the Mountain View siding, permitting only three trains a day up the mountain. With the new equipment and sidings, eight trains per day became possible (two more larger railcars were delivered from SLM; Unit 24 in 1984 and the last, Unit 25, in 1989).

Rolling stock on the M&PPRy. consists of: four 214 passenger articulated Swiss-built railcars; four 78 passenger Swiss-built railcars; three GE built locomotives (one of which has been modified to carry the section crew); one snowplow (#22 - built upon the frame of a GE locomotive); one 23 passenger diesel railcar (#7); one steam locomotive (#4 - built by Baldwin); a Winter-Weiss "streamliner" coach and an original Wasson wooden coach (#104). Only the Swiss-built railcars carry regular passengers. The steam locomotive and passenger coaches are only rarely used, on special occasions.