MANITOU SPRINGS - For the first time in its 116-year history, the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway is hauling passengers up the side of Pikes Peak throughout the winter.

Staff of the local cog extended operations to Christmas about five years ago. It was so successful they decided to keep the operations open during the winter of 2006-07, said Spencer Wren, general manager of the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway Co.

"It's just a matter of losing less money than we were because it costs so much to run this place," Wren said. "Anything we can do to offset that is good."

Maintenance crews have worked during the winter for years making repairs and clearing the tracks of snow and ice.

The crews go up the mountain at 7 a.m. and use a special rack-rail plow to clear the tracks of snow and ice. The plow was built by cog railway crews in the 1970s and looks like a massive SaladShooter attached to the back of a locomotive cut in half.

Plowing is often a slow process as crews have to make sure the plow doesn't derail into drifts of snow.

Crews use shovels to clear away the snowbanks, which can reach 10 feet deep in some spots, that border the track.

When the snow is hard-packed, workers uses chain saws to cut blocks of snow out of the snowbanks. The blocks are thrown onto the track for the plow to run over, which blows the snow off to the side.

"It can be very tedious, time-consuming, backbreaking work, especially when you are working at 12,000 feet," Wren said.

At one time, crews would let ice and snow compact on the tracks during the winter. It became so hard-packed that crews had to use dynamite to blow up the ice and snow.

Now, regulations are so stringent on dynamite that it is easier to use a crew to keep the track clear of snow, Wren said.

This winter, one trainload of passengers heads to the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak at noon on weekends and holidays.

Beginning in mid-March the railway will operate five days a week, and in April it will operate seven days a week.

The train will rev up to its full operations, running a few trains a day, by June 15.

During the winter, the train chugs up the mountain only as far as weather permits. Guests who do not make it to the summit get reimbursed some of their ticket price, based on the elevation the train was able to reach before coming back down the mountain, Wren said.

The first wintertime operation has not been as successful as Wren would have liked. Snowstorms have hit Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak on a number of weekends from December to February, which has prevented the train from reaching the summit on most trips this winter, Wren said.

If the weather cooperates and guests can reach the summit, staff members drive up the Pikes Peak Highway or hop on the train so they can open the gift shop and bathrooms at the top, said Dave Donatto, cog traffic manager.

There is usually not enough time, however, to make a batch of the famous high-altitude doughnuts for guests before the train has to head back down the mountain, he said.

Wren plans to try the winter schedule for at least five years before deciding if it should continue.

The railway has about 225,000 riders a year and is the highest railway in North America, Wren said.

The Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway Co. is owned by the Oklahoma Publishing Co., which also owns The Broadmoor hotel.

For more information

To find out about reservations, schedules, rates and the cog railway:

• Visit the Web site at www.cograilway.com

• Call 1-719-685-5401

Back to Top