Steam Era The idea for the railroad came in 1888, after a trip to the summit by inventor
Zalmon G. Simmons, who had founded previously the
Simmons Bedding Company. Simmons had designed a wooden telegraph insulator while on the board of directors of
Western Union, and was surveying
Englemann Canyon for telegraph lines to the top of
Pikes Peak. It was a miserable two-day trip on a mule and after his return, Simmons was convinced that there needed to be a more "civilized" mode of travel to the summit of Pikes Peak and decided to fund the construction of a railway. The line would start at a depot in the town of Manitou Springs, located at an elevation of , and climb to the summit of Pikes Peak at an elevation of . The average
grade of the line would be 12% but would top out at 25%. Normal trains can not retain traction on the rails at grades steeper than 10%, so the railway would need to use a
cog and rack system to help pull trains up the mountain and control the speed of the descent. Construction was started in 1889, being built by Italian laborers using only pickaxes and assisted by donkeys. The line was built as a
standard-gauge railway with an
Abt rack system and wooden
ties. Limited service was started in 1890 on the first segment of the line from Manitou Springs to the Halfway House Hotel. On June 30, 1891, the first train reached the summit. Three
steam locomotives were built for the line by the
Baldwin Locomotive Works that each featured boilers offset by 16 degrees to keep them level on the steeply inclined grades. While most locomotives pull rail cars, these steam engines would push the line's wooden passenger cars up the mountain, decreasing the chance of a runaway car. A fourth steam locomotive was added to the fleet in 1892 (which was built as a
Vauclain compound), which proved to be more efficient and cut the cost of operating on a steep incline. The locomotive was so successful that the original locomotives were rebuilt as Vauclain compounds in 1893. Over time, the Vauclain compound technology made the locomotives notoriously difficult to maintain. An additional locomotive was added to the fleet in 1901 and again in 1906. All six steam locomotives were rebuilt in 1912 to similar specifications and would burn slightly under 1 ton of coal per trip. The diesel locomotives 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). The railroad started switching over to a fleet of self-propelled railcars in 1964, purchasing two units (#14 and #15) from
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM), which would be similar to equipment used on many Swiss cog railways. The air-cooled, 8-cylinder diesel engines in the first units proved to be less than satisfactory on the railroad above the tree line and were replaced by water-cooled engines. The railcars proved to be a good addition to the fleet and the railroad purchased two more railcars (#16 and #17) in 1968. As tourism increased in the 1970s the railway needed more capacity. In 1976, the railway took delivery from SLM of two larger railcars (#18 and #19). These are identical in cosmetic appearance to cars 14-17, however consist of two articulated cars.
Passing sidings were built at Minnehaha and Windy Point, allowing trains to pass at various points on the hill. Trains could previously pass only at Mountain View, permitting only three trains a day up the mountain. Eight trains per day became possible with the new equipment and sidings. Two additional two-car trainsets were added in the 1980s (#24 in 1984 and #25 in 1989). ==Revitalization==