Mel McFarland stood at the end of platform one in Manitou Springs with a broad grin on his face. His faded navy blue shirt had a large graphic on it bearing a photo of the Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway.
A self-described "railroad enthusiast," McFarland worked as a conductor and engineer, guiding sight-seers up Pikes Peak for about 15 years. He can rattle off the names of rocks the train passes on the way up -- "Diamond", "Seal", "Mrs. Butterworth".
"When I was a kid, I would look up there and see where the smoke was on the steam engines," he said.
Those steam engines are long gone. And now, so too is the original summit house, originally constructed in 1964. All that's left is its front wall, which is one of the first things people now see when they reach the top of the newly renovated Cog Railway.
Exactly 130 years after the Pikes Peak Cog Railway made its first trip up to the summit, city and state officials, donors and construction workers celebrated the result of about $160 million of investment into America's Mountain.
Blaise Minor looks out the window of the new Broadmoor Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway before heading down the mountain Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
The new Pikes Peak Summit Complex is a shining, glass-covered beacon on top of the peak, its center section pointing toward the sky. Outside, wheelchair-accessible platforms wind around to a two-track platform for the railcars.
Tina Ziwak organizes the Pikes Peak Challenge, an ascent of the mountain that raises money for the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado. She hopes the new summit house is a draw for out-of-state participants.
"Where else can you see this amazing house at 14,000 feet?"
A CSPD honor guard posts the flags at the ribbon cutting for the Pikes Peak Summit Visitors Center on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Dignitaries and V.I.P.’s first attended the ribbon cutting for the reopening of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway and then traveled to the top of Pikes Peak for the new visitors center ribbon cutting. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette
The answer, of course, is nowhere. The Pikes Peak Summit Complex is the highest visitor center in the world; the Manitou Pikes Peak Cog Railway is the highest cog railway in the world.
The mountain that powered calls of "Pikes Peak or Bust" is again part of a boon for Colorado Springs. On Thursday, the city will officially open a new pedestrian bridge that connects America the Beautiful Park to the new U.S. Olympic Museum. Nearby, there are new venues for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks and Colorado College Hockey.
"I think Colorado Springs has always been world-class, but it's really taking it's place among the greatest cities in the world as a truly world-class destination -- a source of pride for residents and a source of economic growth from all those who visit from across the world," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said.
Though it was the last day in June, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers wore an overcoat to brace himself against the near-freezing temperatures of the summit, where thick clouds shrouded the "amber waves of grain" from view.
Suthers took office in 2015, when planning for the summit house was well under way. He said the new influx of investment marks a new era for the city as it seeks to emerge from the pandemic.
"We're now moving forward," he said. "Tourists are back."
The mayor and others are still working to raise a bit more money to cover the completion of the summit complex. A fundraising committee set out to raise $15 million, and has so far raised $12.7 million toward that goal. In total, the new summit complex cost about $60 million. The renovations to the railway cost $100 million.
Wednesday was the official “ribbon cutting” for both the refurbished cog and the new summit house.
Though the trains look the same as they glide up and down the mountain with their iconic red paint job, the nine-figure investment funded new interiors, new rails, and new Swiss-made engines. When it snows, their route up the mountain can now be cleared with a Swiss-made snow blower.
The Manitou depot at the base of the mountain also has a new look. There's a new bathroom building and a new, bright blue bridge that crosses the tracks. The renovated gift shop still smells vaguely of paint.
All of it is intended to provide visitors with a better experience, one that still includes the greatest hits: views, doughnuts, bighorn sheep and snow in the summer.
Polis said he'd last been to Pikes Peak when he was 11 or 12 years old. He remembers being scared while his family drove up the winding roads of the mountain. Years later, it's a different place, and Polis road the cog down from the summit.
When the conductor announced the appearance of a black bear bounding over chunks of Pikes Peak granite on the opposite side of the train car, the governor lunged into the aisle to catch a glimpse.
The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is owned by the Denver-based Anschutz Corp., whose Clarity Media Group owns The Gazette.
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Updated Cog Railway and new summit house officially open at Pikes Peak - Colorado Springs Gazette
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