The Forrest City times., 1895-06-14
Of the grade which was M, un,,- -.

fIron Nv was ZigZag w. the sides of
ra om a"antain, until Crystal Park w.s
i ;,,S Thence through this CHARMING
r vale and skirtiny Camernn,s
60, ~ proceeded until the summit of
n 'a ieak was nearly reached
nDeyono this the route was thr',"ni,
nosemomnt Park. and on To the dasirsd
suai. Ihe maximum grade was To ha
nve per cent. and the curvature tbir,y
uegiets: This road was graded fnr
e,eHt ulileS, and then the prniect w,s
aoahuofied. owing To the adverse re.
polt OF an engineer sent out tn cyan.
, me the work by Eastern canitaIists
Inc expert who made the examinat;on
was VI The opinion that the grade would
suner 50 extensively from '.wasbouts,,
,hat tte expense of maintenance wonid
pe 700 great for profitable oprration
AZ Is an interesting fact that the grad.
inR theh done stands to day AZ firm
ano complete as it was the dav the
workmelI left it. '"e
VII tue 18th day Of September. 1898
papers We're filed Incorporating accord
,ng 10 the laws OF Colorado. "rhe
1 ke's feak u Manitou Railway Com.
pahV." The capital stock was $500 OOO
MAYOR John Hubert was chosen IA
PRESIDENT OF the company. and IL ia tn
ms untiring energy that the peonle of
Mdnit0u are indebted for the comn,e-
ZION or the road in so short time.
On September %, 1899, grading was
oegan at the summit The entire length
vi tue road is eight and seventy four
one-hundredths miles. The full de-
scriptlon, obtained by the writer from
descriptive pamphlets. is as follows:
y Inc road-bed is fifteen feet wide.
Every two hundred or four hundred
Ieet. according to grade, are sunk cross
SECTIONS or masonry, to which the
track IS tied, so that absolute rjgidity
Is secured. There is not a single foot
OF trestle-wOrk on the entire line, and
only three short bridges, these be-
ing constructed in the most substantial
manner, entirely of iron. The maxi.
mum curvature is only sixteen degrees.
winch gives Il radius Of $50 feet. The
average ascent per mile is 1920 feet,
Inc total rise from base to summit
IS 1925 feet. The cost of grading alone
was over $4,000. The road is stan
GARD gauge, and laid with forty-pound
steel rails. Between these. i'm the cen.
Ger OF the track, are placed two cog
Tails, made OF the finest Coca steel. A
special chair has been manufactured
Tor these rails at Abt's great foundry,
In Germany. On the Mount Washing
ton road. and on that up the Rigi, the
middle rail is constructed upon the
principle of ladder. This is cumber-
some, provocative of great noise. and
only allows 4 speed of two and three
I0urtllS miles an hour. The speed at
tainable on the Pixies Peak road Is sew
enteen miles All hour, but the maxi
mum rate Is not over eight miles,
ana the average is not more than four
miles. One cog-rail would be amply
Sumcient to do all the work, but two
are inserted to insure safety. The cogs
are lifted with such nicely that the
variation OF tiftieth part of an inch
In one of them will cause the whole
rail to be rejected. The engines are
built by the Baldwin Company, of
Philadelphia, and are of the latest pat
tern. When CD Il level track, they will
stand at An eight per cent. slant, and
thus when the cars and engine are on
u sixteen per cent. grade, they are
level. There are three wheels on each
side OF the engine. which revolve on
the axles and merely act as guides, and
to sustain the weight. There are three
driving cOg-wheels which interdigitate
with the cOg-rails, and thus when the
engine is i'm position the track is in re-
ality part OF the engine. The weight
OF the engine is thirty-two tons. Two
OF the cog-drivers are in constant use,
and the third Is reserved for emergen-
cies. The cars were built at Spring
field, Mass, and are arranged OH IA
slant" corresponding with that of the
engine, and each one is fitted with an
independent cOg.brake. The engine
pushes the cars up the mountain, and
remains in front of them in making
the descent No coupling is used, and
each Car is entirely independent Of the
other. The descent could be made In
perfect safety without AN engine. The
cars will seat fifty passengers each,
though nearly twice that number can
be accommodated in case of necessity.
The element of safety has been look
ed after with the greatest care. The
road-b bed Is ballasted the firmest of any
in the United States. The absence of
trestles Is great integer Of protection
from danger; the cross section embank-
ments render the track rigid; the
bridges are of iron. The engine, when
gOiAg at the rate of three miles an
hour can be stopped instantly. When
running at the rate of eight miles an
hour it can be stopped before it has
progressed twenty inches.
SCENERY ON THE ASCENT.
In addition to the novelty OF ascend
ing Pixies Peak by railway, it gives an
opportunity tor beholding scenery OF
surprising grandeur. beauty and mag
nitude. The road starts near the Prom
Spring, in Bngleman's Canon, and FOL-
lows this gulch to the head waters on