Mount Washington Cog Railway (USA)
Feature by Lizzie Guilfoyle
AT 6,288 feet, Mount Washington is the highest mountain in the northeastern United States. Along with Mounts Jefferson, Adams and Madison, it’s located in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. But what makes Mount Washington so special is its unique form of transport – the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
You can, of course, drive to the top but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun as the three-hour round trip aboard one of these delightful old trains. Built in the 1890s, six of the seven near identical engines have been extensively overhauled and rebuilt so that now very little remains of the original. Just the one, which takes its name from the mountain, remains intact but not suprisingly, it’s no longer in service.
And they are unique. For a start, the boilers are tilted forward thereby ensuring that the water inside always remains level, even when the engines are negotiating the mountain’s steep grades – and here we’re talking about some of the steepest in the world.
Furthermore, and I’ll put it as simply as possible, there are two cog wheels under the centre of each engine and these engage with a toothed rack rail that runs between the regular rails – hence the name Cog Railway.
Each engine pushes just one carriage to the top but this isn’t the Orient Express so don’t expect speed (it’s just 3 mph going up and a slightly speedier 6 mph on the way down!) or luxury. Strangely, neither matter because it’s the experience that counts – and an experience it most certainly is.
The journey, heralded by a triumphant and lengthy blast of the whistle, begins at Marshfield Station and almost immediately – just after crossing the Ammonoosuc River, in fact – the track begins to rise and you feel yourself pushed back in your seat.
Fifteen minutes later, engine and carriage have crested Cold Spring Hill and stopped at the Waumbek Water Tank (approximately 3,800 feet) where the boiler is refilled. As a matter of interest, 1,000 gallons of water and one ton of coal are consumed during the trip.
The journey then continues with the beautiful Ammonoosuc Ravine to the left and soon you’re passing The Half-way House, a red building that I could have sworn tilted dangerously to the right – until that was, the conductor/brakeman pointed out that it was the carriage and not the house at fault!
By this time, the air is decidedly cooler and trees become sparser before eventually giving way to low brush and exposed rock. Now comes the steepest part of the journey, a curving 300 foot-long trestle, 30 foot in height, known as Jacob’s Ladder. With a gradient of 37.41 (that’s a rise of 37 feet every 100 feet) it means that passengers sitting at the front of the carriage are 14 feet higher than those at the rear! And for those sitting on the left, the reality can be truly appreciated.
At 5,600 feet, engine and carriage pass Skyline Switch, a siding where downhill trains give way to those going up. From here the view on a clear day is incredible, with Mount Washington rising a further 700 feet above its companions Mounts Adams, Clay and Madison. Yet even this doesn’t quite prepare you for the view from the top where, in perfect conditions (crisp and bright), you can see four states, Quebec and the Atlantic Ocean.
It’s here at the top that the world’s highest wind speed was recorded – on April 12, 1934, when it reached a staggering 231 mph. Fortunately, my visit in early October 2007 coincided with a period of unseasonally warm weather and although I needed a jacket and a haze obscured the distant horizon, it was as near perfect as you could wish.
Having rested for 20 minutes at the top, the engine coasts down the mountain using the compressed air in its cylinders to control speed – from a distance, you can tell from the colour of the exhaust whether trains are going up (black) or coming down (white).
However, on the downward journey the engine cannot hold the carriage, so the two aren’t actually coupled – only gravity keeps them together. It’s here though that the brakeman comes into his own. Standing in front of two large brake wheels and constantly adjusting the drag, he ensures that engine and carriage only gently touch. And, of course, should the engine take flight, the brakes will stop the carriage following suit – or so I’m told!
From start to finish, this is a truly wonderful experience; one I’ll certainly never forget. But for more information and some superb images, visit the Mount Washington Cog Railway website. Better still, take a trip to New Hampshire and experience it for yourself.
Oh, how I miss this part of the world! I recently moved to California — where the weather is admittedly nice — but so far, I’ve found nothing like this. Thanks for ‘taking me back home!’
Escondido Kango Jan 11 #