"Around the Circle": One Thousand Miles Through the Rocky Mountains

by Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company

CENTRE OF PIKE'S PEAK.

Beyond Palmer Lake, on both sides of the track, may be seen wonderful formations of brilliant red sandstone, taking the form of castles, fortifications and towers. One of the most striking of these has been named Phœbe's Arch, being a great castle-like upthrust of glowing red rock, through which there is a perfect natural archway. The descent of the Divide to Colorado Springs is through an interesting country, the mountains to the west and plains extending to the east. As Colorado Springs are approached, the great gateway to the Garden of the Gods can be seen to the right, and Pike's Peak, rising to an altitude of 14,147 feet, its summit white with snow, attracts instant attention. A side trip can here be taken, at nominal expense, to Manitou Springs, five miles distant, the famous watering place of the west, a pleasure resort possessing wonderful effervescent and medicinal springs, and surrounded by more objects of scenic interest than any resort of a like character in the old or new world, including "Garden of the Gods," "Glen Eyre," "Red Rock Cañon," "Crystal Park," "Ruxton's Glen," "William's Cañon," "Manitou Grand Caverns," "Cave of the Winds," "Ute Pass," "Rainbow Falls," "Bear Creek Cañon," "Cheyenne Mountain," "Pike's Peak," and hundreds of others, to name which space is lacking.

The cog-wheel railroad to the summit of Pike's Peak is now completed and in operation, and is the most novel railway in the world. When it reaches its objective point above the clouds, at a height of 14,147 feet above sea level, it renders almost insignificant by comparison the famous cog-way up Mount Washington, and the inclined railway up the Rhigi in Switzerland.

The route is the most direct possible, and about nine miles in length. The track is the same as that of the Mount Washington line, standard gauge, with an eight-inch cast-steel cog-rail. The cars are set on low trucks to prevent them from becoming top-heavy on curves or in a high wind. This is almost an unnecessary precaution, as it is not expected to make the ascent in less than two hours. On the ascent the cars are pushed by the engine, but on the descent the locomotive is placed in front. The engine achieves the tremendous grades by means of a cog-wheel, which fits into the cog-rail. This mountain road is a great attraction, added to the many which already render Manitou the greatest summer resort of the mid-continental region.

The run from Colorado Springs to Pueblo is down the valley of a pretty little stream, the Fountaine qui Bouille, along whose banks are situated rich farms, or as they are universally termed in the west, "ranches," on which large crops are grown through the medium of irrigation. A hundred miles to the westward may be seen the faint blue outlines of the Greenhorn range of mountains, while to the eastward stretch the plains, the view of which is limited only by the horizon. Pueblo is the great manufacturing city of central Colorado. It has one of the largest steel manufactories in the world, and a number of extensive smelters. Its close proximity to coal and iron mines, and the fact that it has become a railroad center of much importance, makes the future of the city exceedingly bright in promise. With a population of over 20,000, constantly increasing, and with the energy and push of its citizens, it cannot fail of achieving the greatest prosperity.

VETA PASS.

From Pueblo, 120 miles distant from Denver, the journey is continued to the south, still across a level country, and to the left the Spanish peaks soon rise to view. These mountains possess a peculiar attraction, rising, as they do, directly from the plain in symmetrical, conical outlines, and reaching an altitude respectively of 13,620 and 12,720 feet. The Indians, with a touch of instinctive poetry, named these mountains "Wahatoya," or Twin Breasts.

Shortly after sighting the Spanish Peaks, the ascent of Veta Pass is begun The ascent of this famous pass is one of the great engineering achievements of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The line follows the ravine formed by a little stream. La Veta Mountain rising to the right. At the head of this gulch is the wonderful "Mule-Shoe Curve," the sharpest curve of the kind known in railroad engineering. In the center of the bend is a bridge, and the sparkling waters of the mountain stream can be seen flashing and foaming in their rocky bed below. Standing on the rear platform of the Pullman car as the train rounds the curve, the tourist can see the fireman and engineer attending to their duties. From this point the ascent of Dump Mountain begins, rocks and precipitous escarpments of shaley soil to the right and perpendicular cliffs and chasms to the left. The ascent is slowly made, two great Mogul engines urging their iron sinews to the giant task. The view to the eastward is one of great extent and magnificence. The plains stretch onward to the dim horizon line like a gently undulating ocean, from which rise the twin cones of "Wahatoya," strangely fascinating in their symmetrical beauty. At the summit of the pass the railroad reaches an elevation of 9,393 feet above the sea.