Tag Archives: Pikes Peak Cog Railway

Rail Photo of the Month: August 2022

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SLM Diesel Electric #14

Location: Pikes Peak Summit, Colorado
Operator of Vehicle: Pikes Peak Cog Railway
Date of Photo: July 22, 2014

Considering the extreme heat waves being experienced throughout much of the United States right now, it seemed appropriate that the Photo of the Month for August 2022 should try finding a cooler climate to feature.  So naturally, we find ourselves over 14,000 feet above sea level at the Summit of Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs, CO.  The temperature at the mountain’s summit is usually about 30 degrees colder than in Manitou Springs, near the base of the mountain.  

The Pikes Peak Cog Railway opened in 1890 and has been in operation continuously since that time with the exception of a refurbishment from October 2017 through May 2021.  It was decided to build the line in order to have what inventor Zalmon Simmons called a more “civilized” way to reach the peak of the mountain after a difficult two day trip on his mule.  The railroad was built as a cog railway because standard trains would not be able to ascend or descend grades greater than 10 percent successfully and safely.  When the line first opened, it was operated by steam engines.  Diesel locomotives were introduced in the late 1930s.  The current rolling stock consists of diesel-electric hybrids built by Stadler Rail of Switzerland.

For more photos of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, please click here.

Enough Teases, Here’s What’s New and Updated for the Start of 2021!

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Ventura County Railway No. 2
Anyone who knows where I’ve traveled or has visited the site with some frequency over the years may have noticed that the Bus Photo of the Month for January 2021 was from a city that had not been included on Oren’s Transit Page before, and that I’ve been highlighting a number of new website sections over the past few weeks. 

The biggest and most noteworthy additions are the brand new sections for Baltimore, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Austin.  As I noted in a recent post, there was a certain amount of irony to the fact I grew up 40 miles from Baltimore and am an avid Orioles fan, yet the city had not been featured on this site until recently.  Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Austin were destinations that I traveled to in late 2019 and early 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to make those trips when I did.  

I also took advantage of some time I had recently to move some photos that had been on the Uncaptioned Photos page for quite awhile and put them in more appropriate places on the website, most notably, the photos of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway now have their own page.  Perhaps you found the new material on your own, but if not, here is the full listing of where new photos were recently added to the site, with new sections highlighted in bold and italics.