Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway

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Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway
SLM double railcars in the mountain station
SLM double railcars in the mountain station
Route length: 14.3 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope : 250 
Rack system : Dept

The Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway (also known as the Pikes Peak Cog Railway ) was a standard gauge rack railway system abbot in Colorado , USA . The train ran from Manitou Springs , Colorado to Pikes Peak . The railway was planned as a tourist attraction right from the start . It was considered the highest railway in North America .

history

The company was founded in 1889 by Zalmon G. Simmons, inventor and founder of the Simmons Bedding Company . Operations up to the Halfway House Hotel began in 1890 and peaked the following year.

The track was temporarily closed after the end of the 2017 season. It is currently being completely modernized and is due to reopen for its 130th anniversary in 2021.

business

Initially, the train only ran in the summer months. At the end of the day, the train ran all year round, but not to the summit in winter. The main season with up to twelve trains per day was summer.

vehicles

Pikes Peak Cog Railway steam locomotive with display car, circa 1900

Seven steam cog locomotives were supplied by Baldwin Locomotive Works from 1890 to 1906 , they had inclined boilers so that they lay horizontally on the average 16% incline. The first locomotive number 4 was destroyed in 1896 when it escaped after the drive rods broke. It was replaced by a new locomotive with the same number. On the other hand, locomotives 5 and 3 could be rebuilt after derailments in 1919 and 1935. Locomotive 6 delivered in 1906 was oil-fired, but was used less than the coal-fired locomotives. The locomotives were rebuilt several times. Since the steam locomotives were prone to failure and steam operation was expensive, other forms of traction were sought early on and the steam locomotives were gradually put out of service. Lok 4 was used as a last until 1958 and is operational again since 1980 and can with the Vorstellwagen be used 104 for special trips. Numbers 1, 2 and 5 are present as monument locomotives, numbers 3 and 6 have been broken off.

The first gasoline- powered multiple unit number 7 was built by Deutsche Bahn in 1938; the aluminum case came from Denver, the first engine from General Motors, later replaced by a Cadillac engine. The railcar is still there today.

Due to the success of railcar 7, five diesel-electric trains with the numbers 8 to 12 were put into operation from 1939 to 1956. They consist of a diesel locomotive and a control car. Two locomotives and a control car are still available, as well as two converted locomotives (snow blower 22, railway service locomotive 23).

In 1960, Deutsche Bahn ordered two diesel-electric multiple units (No. 14 and 15) from SLM . These were delivered in 1963 after one was temporarily equipped with a Riggenbach gear and had a test drive on the Arth-Rigi-Bahn . They were used from 1964 and proved their worth, which is why two more (No. 16 and 17) were put into operation in 1968.

With increasing demand, the railway wanted to expand its capacity. Additional diesel multiple units were ordered from SLM, but this time diesel-hydraulic double multiple units. Numbers 18 and 19 were delivered in 1976, number 24 in 1984 and number 25 in 1989. The last delivered railcar 25 differs from the previous SLM railcars in that it has two rectangular headlights, which have a round headlight in the center. The Voith drive trains of these railcars had to be replaced from 1996.

Construction locomotive 23

As early as 1934, a platform truck was fitted with a Ford engine for rail service. The engine was later replaced, but the car with the number 20 continued to be used. In 1953, the railway built a snow blower number 21 in its own workshop, but it never fully worked and in 1974 the new snow blower 22 was built on the undercarriage of a diesel locomotive. Another diesel locomotive was adapted for rail service and today bears the number 23. Of the two flat cars that were originally there, one still exists today, which was provided with a tilting loading area in 1967/68.

Cessation of operations

In 2018, the railway company announced on its website that there would be no operation on the railway line in the 2018 season or in the foreseeable future, because a technical review of the infrastructure and equipment had shown that both had reached the end of their service life. A thorough renewal of the superstructure began in 2019. The line will be equipped with the Strub rack system instead of the Abt system. The new racks have the Strub TN70 profile shape. The racks are manufactured by Tensol SA in Giornico and delivered to the USA by container. For maintenance reasons, the racks are interlocked so that in the event of an accident, individual racks can be changed or rotated after the tooth flanks on the mountain side have worn down.

Three new train compositions, each consisting of a diesel locomotive and three wagons, were ordered from Stadler in spring 2019. The SLM double railcars will continue to be used and therefore have to get new gears from the Strub system. The reopening of the railway is scheduled to take place in May 2021.

literature

  • Walter Hefti: The world's rack railways. Birkhäuser Verlag Basel and Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-7643-0550-9
  • Walter Hefti: Cog railways of the world, addendum. Birkhäuser Verlag Basel and Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7643-0797-8
  • Morris W. Abbot: The Pike's Peak Cog Railroad. Golden West Books, San Marino CA 1972, ISBN 0-87095-039-8

Individual evidence

  1. English Wikipedia article about Zalmon G. Simmons
  2. Timetable on the company's website
  3. Journal Eisenbahn-Amateur 9/1989, page 635, ISSN  0013-2764
  4. Connaissance du Rail magazine, number 176, January 1996, page 18. ISSN  0222-4844
  5. https://www.cograilway.com/recon-test19.htm
  6. Pikes Peak Cog Ry. Retrieved February 8, 2019 .

Web links

Commons : Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files