Mt. Washington Cog Railway

The Mount Washington Cog Railway is the world's first mountain-climbing Cog Railway, starting operations in 1869. It was conceived, designed, and built by Sylvester Marsh over a 3 year period. The entire history of this 140 year railway can be found here. The track runs up a three mile-long trestle with a maximum gradient of over 37%, making it the second-steepest mountain climbing train in the world and the only one entirely built on a trestle. Using a vintage steam engine, replica coaches, as well as bio-diesel locomotives which were added in 2008, the railway continues its 140 year tradition. We rode the first train of the day, which typically is the steam locomotive. But since it requires a ton of coal and 1000 gallons of water to make the ascent, the rest of the day, the new environmentally friendly bio-diesel engines pull the coaches. Here we are at the top...




This photo is shot through the open front door of the coach. The brakeman (unseen here) is sitting on the "front porch" of the car to the right of this door, carefully watching the track for any problems. His real job is on the descent, when he uses 2 brake wheels to control the speed going down.




Here's the steepest portion of the route, measured at 37.41 percent grade. The brakeman suggests people stand in the aisle to experience how steep an angle it is.



Your trip begins at 2700 feet. The top of Mt. Washington (elevation 6288 feet) is a 59 acre parcel of the state park system, land purchased by the state from Dartmouth College decades ago. All surrounding land is part of the 750,000 acre White Mountain National Forest and the famed Appalachian Trail runs near the summit and through-hikers often visit the summit. The highest wind velocity ever measured on earth, 231 miles per hour, was clocked on the summit on April 12, 1934. Wind exceeds hurricane force (75 mph) over one hundred days a year. An average wind velocity of 35 mph, coupled with an average temperature of 27.1 F, makes for extreme wind chill conditions. Snowfall averages 17 inches. But the views remain a drawing point, as the Presidential Range spread before you always grabs everyone's attention.

The summit offers a snack counter, gift shop, post office, museum, and rest rooms.



The trip up takes an hour and the return trip takes half that. The base station of the railway has a museum, and one photo shows how workers used to descend the 3 mile route in merely 3 minutes using a "devil's shingle," averaging 60mph on the ride down. It was a small wooden sled with 2 brake handles that can engage the center cog to control speed. What a wild ride that must have been!




Here's a video of our trip to the summit...