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End of Pike's Peak Cog Railway?
http://rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41770		 Page 3 of 3
Author:  marshall5 [ Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: End of Pike's Peak Cog Railway?
I hope you don't mind, Paul, if I add a little to your post. The Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB) is, as you say metre gauge and runs from Interlaken Ost to Grindlewald and Lauterbrunnen. At Lauterbrunnen there is a break of gauge to the 80cm Wengernalp Bahn (WAB) which climbs through Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg and then descends to meet the BOB again at Grindelwald. From Kleine Sheidegg the metre gauge Jungfrau Bahn climbs to the summit of the Jungfrau (much of it in a tunnel through the mountain) which is, IIRC, the highest railway station in Europe.
I have been to Switzerland many times and never cease to be impressed by the high standards of maintenance and how busy these lines are. Going back for another 'fix' in July!
It would be a tremendous shame if the Pike's Peak Railroad is lost in the interests of maximizing profit for private company. A previous post mentioned "the trust sold the property" to the present owners. Can someone elaborate on this please?
Ray.
Author:  diningcartim [ Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: End of Pike's Peak Cog Railway?
marshall5 wrote:
A previous post mentioned "the trust sold the property" to the present owners. Can someone elaborate on this please?
Ray.


Please refer to my post about 3/4 of the way down the first page of this thread. It is a fairly decent review of the history of the Broadmoor/M&PP. The only thing in question is that the Broadmoor apparently sits in a separate corporate entity from the other hotel/resorts under the Xanterra corporate home in the Anschutz conglomerate.
Author:  ebtrr [ Tue Mar 20, 2018 4:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: End of Pike's Peak Cog Railway?
marshall5 wrote:
... A previous post mentioned "the trust sold the property" to the present owners. Can someone elaborate on this please?
Ray.


As I understand it:

Due to the Tax Reform Act of 1969, the El Pomar Foundation sold its majority interest of The Broadmoor in 1988. The Oklahoma Publishing Company gained controlling interest in 1989. The Anschutz Company bought Xanterra from JMB in 2008. The Anschutz Corporation purchased the Broadmoor in 2011.
Author:  Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: End of Pike's Peak Cog Railway?
And the "other shoe has dropped," just as a cynic here predicted:

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... tax-breaks

Behind the Trains paywall; I'm citing only the most relevant data:

Quote:
The owner of Colorado’s Pikes Peak Cog Railway says the iconic tourist attraction could reopen as early as 2020 if the company can strike a deal with the local community on a pair of tax breaks to help reduce rebuilding costs. . . .

. . . the owners have determined that it will cost anywhere from $80 million to $95 million to upgrade the track, facilities, and equipment. Company officials say they will move forward if granted tax incentives from Manitou Springs . . .


My own editorial comment:
Of course it sounds shady or extortionate. But it's exactly the kind of demand we see from other major economic players in a local economy, from a proposed shopping mall to a professional sports team to a resort to a manufacturer. And the fact is that such "bargaining" has become the norm in places with tax burdens that can be deemed "excessive". There are loads of other precedents for this kind of support as well, from local grants for rebuilding rail sidings or short lines to that whole "transportation efficiency act" program (which, to my mind, set quite a few bad examples along the way).
If such asking for, and granting, such tax relief has become the norm in Colorado or the Manitou Springs region, it behooves the M&PPRR to ask for such relief.
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