West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1892-06-16
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS"
To the Summit Of Pixies Peak by
Railway, the Nest Wonderful
Line in the World,
MANIToU, CoL., May. 1892.

picked upon this divinely shaped
valley as the only fitting shrine for
their gods, and called the Kissing
springs "Manitou' (the Great Spir-
iO. Here they made pilgrimages,
IN solemn awe, and here they
brought their sick and aged TO
drink and be healed by the effer-
vcscent waters, which they believed
were supplied by the gods. The
town is now a beautiful village of
1000 people. and has about l25 900
visitors annually. Nesting right
here at the foot of Pixies Peak, and
surrounded on all sides by the eter-
nal hills and snow capped noun
talns towering above, the little
valley with its flowers and trees and
beautiful homes, is a perfect para.
disc. 1t is five miles from here to
Colorado Springs. We were driven
over in carriages furnished by the
citizens, and had very pleasant
drive through the "Garden of tho
Gods" one Of the most famous
places in the world, where nature
has left specimens of her handiwork
that far outdo the works OF Arr.
Pillars and monuments o: red sand
stone tower up here and there for
hundreds of feet and formed by
nature into all kintis OF curious de-
signs. One formation called the
"Kissing Camels," looks very much
like two camels kissing. Another
is called "rhe Balancing Rock, T."
and is large rock of red colored
stone weighing hundreds Of tons
and resting on very small base and
looks like one man could push it
over, but a hundred couldn't move
it. The drivers and guides tell the
eastern visitors all kinds II stories
about it that it turns around once
year, etc. There are many points
Of interest all around here, but the
greatest curiosity is the Mani
tou & Pixies Peak Railway. 1t took
brains and courage to conceive Of
so unusual and enormous an enter
PRISE, and it took pluck and capital
TO consummate it. The road has
no counterpart on the western hem
isphere, and, IN point OF elevation
overcome and maximum Of elcya-
! ton attained, is the most remarka-
ble in the world. IT is similar,
however, in essential respects, to
the cog g-wheel road at Mt. Washing
ton. 1t is standard gauge, with
wide and substantial road bcd and
heavy steel rails, the traction de-
yolying upon two heavy serrated
rails in the center upon which ope-
rate SIX cog.whcels underneath the
locomotive. 1t is built upon the
Abt system, lin use in Switzerland)
and the peculiar mechanical con
struction Of both track and locomo-
tive render it absolutely safe. The
length Of track is eight and three
| fourth miles, in which there is
total ascent OF 1900 feet or an ay.
erage of 84G feet TO the mile. The
stecpcst grades are n rise Of one foot
IN four, and there is very little Of
| the track on less than a twelve and
a-half per cent. grade. The bridges
are entirely Of iron and masonry,
and the track ia the stccpest places
is solidly anchored every two hun
dred feet. The passenger equip
ment consists OF five locomotives
and eight passenger coaches. The
former arc unique IN appearance and
weigh twenty. five tons each. They
push the cars on the ascent and
prccedc them on the descent, thus
giving the engineer absolute control
Of the train should any breakagc
occur in tho couplings. The
coaches arc elegant, largely OF glass,
to facilitate observation along the
route. The view is the grandest to
be seen from the line Of any railway
in the world, and to talk about
running a railroad up Pixies Peak,
fifty years ago, would have been
coBsiderod the widest delusion Of q
badly disordered brain. Each coach
has a capacity for fifty persons, and
the seats are so arranged that pas
sengcrs have ~ all times r level
sitting. The locomotives push two
coaches each, and make the trip up
in less than two hours, including a
ston AZ The Hallway IIouse Ctatior