The picture starts at Manitou station and shows the famous Ute Pass express on the Colorado Midland Railway. The train is made up of four of the most expensive coaches on any railroad in the world-each as handsome as a private car. A monster compound engine pulls the train, for it climbs up a grade of nearly 25 feet to the mile and must make express train speed. The picture starts with the train on the straight track just west of tunnel No. 2. Suddenly it disappears into the side of the mountain, yet the camera catches the little circle of light between the coaches and the walls of the tunnel. The camera follows and still keeps the train in view. It crosses a high bridge at Manitou and the picture shows a glimpse of the upper portion of that famous resort. The cog road station and pavilion as well as a number of hotels and points of interest are seen at a glance. The train continues to climb and soon strikes a high curve, from which the lights of Denver may be seen seventy-five miles away, on clear nights. Dense clouds of smoke come puffing from the engine, and for an instant the trains seem enveloped in vapor. The effect is grand. Then suddenly the wind blows it away and the engine is seen rounding the curve. The camera follows, but also looks out across the canyon and gets another view of the portion of Manitou.
—Selig Catalog (1907)