The railway was closed between October 29, 2017 and May 20, 2021, for a complete refurbishment that saw the replacement of the track infrastructure, the rebuild of older railcars and the purchase of three new trainsets.

[1] It was a miserable two-day trip on a mule and after his return, Simmons was convinced that there needed to be a more "civilized" mode of travel to the summit of Pikes Peak and decided to fund the construction of a railway.

A fourth steam locomotive was added to the fleet in 1892 (which was built as a Vauclain compound), which proved to be more efficient and cut the cost of operating on a steep incline.

The railcar was a huge success, and led the railroad to purchase five 'streamlined' diesel locomotives from General Electric, which were equipped with matching passenger cars, acquired from 1939 onward.

[8] The major refurbishment project would involve the near-complete replacement of the track infrastructure, the rebuild of facilities and older railcars and the purchase of three new trainsets.

Starting in March 2019, crews ripped up the old rails, Abt rack system, and wooden ties, some of which had been in place since the line was first built in 1889.

In May 2020, crews began working down from the top, laying down metal ties, new rails custom ordered from Poland and a new Strub rack system which featured more robust teeth.

Crews also replaced the old manual track switches with radio-controlled versions that would enable faster operations at the passing sidings.

While the track work was underway, crews at the railroad shops in Manitou Springs began to rebuild the four two-car SLM railcars (Nos.

Each railcar was converted to the new Strub system, received a new transmission with a retarder for dynamic braking and was repowered with new diesel engines.

Each trainset would consist of a diesel-electric locomotive, two coaches and a control car, and marked a return to locomotive-hauled trains.

[9] The snowblower has a diesel engine to turn its blades, but it is not self-propelled and instead acts as a control car and pushed by one of the Stadler locomotives.

In February 2021, the new equipment was shipped from Switzerland to the United States,[10] arriving in Manitou Springs the next month.

The Manitou Incline was initially built in 1907 for use in the construction of city water lines and a hydroelectric plant.

When the construction was finished, the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway took over the cable car as a tourist operation.

From 1990 forward, the defunct Incline had been controversial because, although legally off-limits to the public, its roadbed was heavily used for recreation and exercise by people ignoring the trespassing signs.