Cog Railway Cabinet Card

[waywardangler]

I just bought this late 1800s cabinet card at a rummage sale this morning. This is a 4x5 card with rounded corners. I have scanned this and made it darker with more contrast so the details would stand out more. There are no identifying marks anywhere. Nothing on the train? cab, car, nor any signs. The track is interesting...it has 2 outside rails and a center rail that is 'toothed'. I am thinking this is somewhere on the West coast and was maybe a tourist type ride up a hill or along a mountain or ? Any ideas?

[waywardangler]

I am now thinking that I have the wrong coast. This type of rail was for a "cog railway" and the first and most famous was the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire.

Judging by all the rock, I am now thinking this may be the "Pike's Peak Cog Railway". The passenger cars look very similar with the rounded roof and 5 roof vents. I wish there was at least a photographer's name on the card.

[Oceans64]

It's odd that there are no children in the pic...  If it were a bunch of tourists on a scenic ride you would think there would be a couple of kids.

Interesting. I love the ladies hats  

Also...  Is that snow I see in the foreground?

[waywardangler]

Now that you mention it, Oceans, that could be snow. I now see a shovel laying on the rocks to the right of the wood post and by the two women. Yes, I do not see any kids either. There is just nothing identifiable on the car or engine that I can see.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Looks like the trolly was designed to climb a fairly steep elevation, notice how the engine at the back is hinged to stay level, while pushing the passenger compartment upward. Looks steam driven, and that looks like snow to me too. Notice that the ladies in the foreground are wearing winter capelets. I also noticed that there is a distinct difference in the people on the near side of the tracks, versus what appear to be workmen on the far side of the tracks. Interesting photo!

[mariok54]

Great photo .. I really love old photos such as this one. I have/had a small collection which included some by William Friese-Greene (studio shots taken, I think, in Bath), but the box seems to have gone Westward!

Is that someone's elbow on the left of the photo?

[waywardangler]

Yes, mario, that is an elbow on the left edge of the photo.

From http://www.cograilway.com/history.htm
The spring of 1891 was a snowy one, and the opening of the line was delayed until late June. On the afternoon of June 30th, 1891, the first passenger train, carrying a church choir from Denver, made it to the summit. A scheduled group of dignitaries had been turned back earlier by a rock slide around 12,000 feet. The railway was now operating.

The photo below is from the article but it is not very large. No kids in that photo either.

[talesofthesevenseas]

That looks like it!

[waywardangler]

I have just looked at 3 other old photos (around 1907) of the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, and none of the groups of people had kids in the photos. I am pretty certain this cabinet card is of the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway.

[Oceans64]

Great job Wayward! Can you read the name of the train on the small pic?

ETA:  Never mind - Clicked on the link and the name is quite apparent!  

[waywardangler]

No, but the graphic of a train on the link shows it as Manitou & Pike's Peak Ry.

I emailed a friend of mine that collects railroad stuff and he is quite positive it is Pike's Peak and not Mount Washington cog railway.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Interesting to see how these old engines could plow a passenger car uphill. We have some pretty steep inclines at Roaring Camp Railroad where I do the train robberies, and there is one section where a second engine comes in from behind to push the first engine and passenger cars up the steepest part of the incline. I love the old steam engines. There is just something about the sound of that whistle that makes your blood tingle every time you hear it! 

[waywardangler]

Cog railways were designed for the very reason you stated, Tales. I was reading on some site that there is a cog railway in Switzerland that goes up a 48% grade!  That toothed rail meshes with a gear in the engine and pulls the cab up and also allows it to go down slowly.

"What is a "Cog" Railway? http://www.cograilway.com/history.htm
Conventional railroads use the friction of wheels upon the rails, called "adhesion", to provide locomotive power. A cog, or rack, railroad uses a gear, "cog wheel", meshing into a special rack rail (mounted in the middle between the outer rails) to climb much steeper grades than those possible with a standard adhesion railroad. An adhesion railroad can only climb grades of 4 to 6%, with very short sections of up to 9%. A "rack" railroad can climb grades of up to 48%, depending upon the type of rack system employed. Some Swiss trains use a combination of "rack" and "adhesion". This enables the trains to reach much higher speeds on the adhesion sections (rack railroads can not go much faster than 25 miles per hour or they run the risk of dislodgement from the rack rail- M & PP Ry.'s top speed is about 9 MPH)."

[jondar]

Here's what the later ones look like.  And they do have kids on it. The funny looking guy upper left with the 1970's hair style and no moustache is myself, spouse and kids.  Sign says July 1, 1975.  I had forgotten all about it.