Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-10-07
UP PIXIES PEAK.
An Intervening CoGwheel Railroad Route
to the Summit.

An Interesting Cogwheel Railroad Route
to the Summit.
A visit 10 Manitou is sadly incomplete
unless one has assembled to the summit Of
Pixies peak by the new Pixies peak and
Manitou cogwheel railroad. 1t is ex-
perience never to be forgotten, and one
mot be missed for twice the cost, " as is
commonly said. The road is but SO
miles in length, or to be exact, &c, 992 feet
long. The average elevation overcome is
S44. S feet to the mile, an average grade of
16 per cent. The maximum grade is 25
per cent, or $50 feet rise in each LOCO
feet traversed. The maximum grade is 16
per cent. in radius of 339 feet. To'climb
such grades engines of peculiar construc-
ton are used. The boilers are set on the
trucks at an angle of 10 degs., so that in
climbing the average per cent. of the grade
brings the line of the boiler to the horizon
tai
upon this .'short line They weigh TWEEN
ty-five tons. The drivers consist of six
cogwheels, which operate from the center
of the engine on the teethed rails under
meath. The wheels which run upon the
ordinary L rails are simply used to guide
the engine, and not for traction. The cog
rails made from the best tempered
Bessenfer steel, the teeth having been cut
from the solid piece by specially con-
structed machinery. There are two of
these rails, set l Is inches apart, weighing
from twenty-one to thirty-one pounds per
foot of length, the heaviest rails being
used on the steepest grades. Each rack
rail is eighty inches long, and so placed
beside its companion as to break joints.
The teeth are staggered" SO as to give
the six cogwheel drivers of the locomotive
perfect bearing at all times
The utmost care was taken in grading
the roadbed and laying the track. To pre-
vent the moving or sliding of the track,
which was quite possible, unless pre-
cautions were taken, owing to its enormous
weight and the action of the heavy train,
no fewer than 146 anchors have been firmly
set in the solid rock to sustain it. These
anchors are set at from 200 to 600 feet
apart. according to grade. The ties are
bound together by planks spiked longi-
tud: nally where the grade is the heaviest.
The cars are peculiar affairs, and are
pushed up ahead of the engine and de-
tached therefrorn. They can be let down
grade independently from the engine by
means of cogwheel brakes. The seats are
set at the average angle of the grade, at
which they are horizontal, while the floor
of the car is inclined from 16 to 25 dogs.
These cars carry from thirty to forty pas
sengers.
The trip up the mountain is superb. It
is a constant change of scene. Lovely
flowers, foaming cataracts, placid streams
and frowning crags thrill the beholder as
he proceeds to the regions of perpetual
snow. The somber pine and silver spruce
luxuriate in the shady canyons, while the
aspen and willow thrive along the streams
until timber line is reached. From this
point up to the summit nothing but stones.
scanty blades of hardy grasses and modest
fowerets are to be seen. From the sum
init an indescribable panorama spreads for
miles on all sides. Colorado City, Colorado
Springs, Fountain, Pueblo, Monument
and other towns are moro OK less discern