The Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. Manitou Springs Colorado USA. July 1981.

I took this photo on a family vacation in the year of 1981, to the states of Colorado and New Mexico. We are at the station platform looking toward the equipment yard and shops, at the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway.

This is a serious mountain climbing railroad with very steep gradients and high altitudes in the Rocky Mountains. The red self propelled diesel hydraulic coaches, were purpose built in Switzerland for the Manitou and Pikes Peak line.
The center rail is actually a rack for the geard pinnion axels to grad onto. Cog railways are common in the Swiss Alps, and the technology was imported to operate this railroad to the summit of Pikes Peak. The train climbs an altitude so high, that it actually goes above the tree line.

Snowstorms are sometimes encountered enroute, and wild animals such as mountain goats and longhorned sheep can be viewed from the train in their natural habitat.