With a new era dawning for the highest attraction of its kind in North America, here’s a look at the history of The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway:
Charles Hobden’s grandfather, Joseph Hobden, stands in front of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway train in the 1920s. Zalmon Simmons, inventor and founder of Simmons Beautyrest Mattress, completed the railway in 1890 after riding to the summit of Pikes Peak on a mule. He thought after the two-day trip that there should be a more comfortable and “civilized” way to make the trip and got the idea of a train from the owner of a hotel where he was staying. Broadmoor hotel owner Spencer Penrose bought the railway in 1925. Now called the Broadmoor Pikes Peak Cog Railway, it is closed as it undergoes a $100 million rebuild. It is scheduled to reopen in 2021.
Stacy and Witbeck Inc., crews work on laying the first set of track for the Pikes Peak Cog Railway near the top of Pikes Peak on Wednesday, May 13, 2020. The 8.9 mile line is being constructed from the top of the peak to the depot in Manitou Springs. The project includes replacing 40 pound running rail with 65-pound rail, adding 27,000 cubic yards of ballast, and replacing 22,900 steel ties. The reopening of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway is slated for May 2021.
Chancey Bush/The Gazette