COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Pikes Peak Cog Railway’s operator says there is a chance that the famed rack railroad of the Rockies will close for good.
Jack Damioli, president and CEO of The Broadmoor hotel, which owns the 8.9-mile rail line, tells the Colorado Springs Gazette that after months of winter maintenance the railroad could remain closed for up to another three years while the hotel studies its future.
At that point, Broadmoor leadership would either close the railroad permanently or rebuild it, which could take “tens of millions of dollars” the newspaper quotes Damioli as saying.
During the winter maintenance, railroaders review the condition of the equipment and track and determined that it had reached the end of its useful life, the newspaper reports.
The Pikes Peak opened as the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railroad in 1891 with Baldwin-built steam locomotives. It is the highest rail line in North America and, for most of its history, has ferried passengers to the top of Pike’s Peak — the mountain — from Manitou Springs, Colo., at the base.
The original article is available online.
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