Even with these concerns, if you have never done it, we would still recommend a trip on the cog railroad (one time). And while the views as you approach the summit are impressive, for most of the ride you are going through a pine forest with limited visibility. And with limited room between the seats facing each other, you play knee-tag with the person across from you for two hours and twenty minutes. The cars were manufactured in Switzerland and we don’t think the Swiss are as “supersized” as many Americans. The new cars have three seats on one side and two on the other. Previously the configuration was two seats on either side with the seats facing two seats across from you. Our main concern is the crowding in the cars. While we enjoyed the experience, we don’t think we would take the cog rail up to the peak again. Don’t miss the train, it is the final one of the day! Going down A few years ago the elevation of the peak was recalculated and the peak is now listed at 14,115 feet so the sign has also undergone a renovation. The train we rode during our first trip up Pikes Peakīelow is a photo of the sign that once sat at the road that leads to the summit. We came up on the one on the left, and will re-board it in a few minutes. The one on the right is about to return back down the mountain. Two trains sit at the summit in the photo below. The photo below tells the story of what happened to that specimen. We planned to bring a portion of the donuts back with us to see it collapse, but that didn’t work out so well. The new machine is so large (about 1,500 pounds, 92 inches tall and 84 inches wide) that crews had to bring it in early, then finish the building around it. The Summit House was completely rebuilt during the recent cog railroad renovations, including an eco-friendly new donut making machine. Try taking the donuts to a lower elevation and they’ll collapse, their fluffiness will disappear. The recipe is optimized for the high altitude thinner air means lower air pressure, which means a lower boiling point for water (186 degrees rather that 212 degrees). Pikes Peak Summit House donuts can only really be consumed at the summit of Pikes Peak. The Pikes Peak Summit House is a National Historic Landmark and the continued production site of what have become, over the last century, cult favorite donuts. We’ll share our visit there later in this post. That is an area known as Garden of the Gods. In the center of the photo you can make out three rock formations. Colorado Springs below as we clear the tree line Lake Moraine Windy Point – old steam engines replenished their boilers here Another view of Lake Moraineīelow is a view of Manitou Springs from the summit. That totals up to a three hour experience. There is a forty minute stop at the summit to enjoy the views and check out the new visitor center. The trip one way takes about an hour and ten minutes. Normal trains can not retain traction on the rails at grades steeper than 10%, so the railway needs to use a cog and rack system to help pull trains up the mountain and control the speed of the descent. The average grade of the line is 12% but tops out at 25%. The rail line starts at a depot in the town of Manitou Springs, located at an elevation of 6,320 feet, and climbs 8.9 miles to the summit of Pikes Peak at an elevation of 14,115 feet. Pikes Peak from I-25 (the barren peak through all the power lines) Plus the railroad just recently re-opened after being closed since 2017 while undergoing a complete renovation. We rode the train a few years ago (OK, it was 30 years ago!) but don’t remember a great deal from that experience. Our first adventure was a ride up the cog railroad to the top of Pikes Peak. We looked at staying closer to Colorado Springs but had trouble finding a park. After about 60 miles we arrived at the Pueblo KOA, our base for some visits to nearby Colorado Springs. Leaving South Fork we headed east on US 160 for about 120 miles to Salsenburg, CO where we turned north on I-25.
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