Great American Railroads

Mount Washington's Cog Railway

Mt. Washington Cog Railway train coming down from the summit.

Photo courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railway

The Cog defending from the summit of Mt Washington. The average grade is over 25 percent.

Photo courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railway

The Mount Washington Cog Railway, the first mountain–climbing cog railway in the world, last year celebrated 150 years of operation. The Cog, (as it is affectionately nicknamed) is located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, 6 miles from the grand Mount Washington Hotel.

The Cog, once hailed as the “Second Greatest Show on Earth” by P.T. Barnum, has remained a key icon of New Hampshire’s heritage and has maintained its historic roots by allowing passengers to take the three-hour guided roundtrip in a historically inspired coach powered by 1908 and 1875 vintage coal-fired steam locomotives or one of the modern biodiesel engines, all built on-site.

View from the top of Mt. Washington

Photo courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railway

At 6,288 feet in elevation, Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the northeast. Located right in the heart of New Hampshire, a trip up Mount Washington can provide the experience of a lifetime.

It has taken over five million people to the summit during its existence.

In the years just prior to the American Civil War, one 54-year old retired businessman wanted to make a quantum leap by building a railroad to the top of Mount Washington. His idea was immediately met with ridicule and disbelief from state legislators, railroad officials and friends who believed his plan to be preposterous. That man was Sylvester Marsh.

Sylvester Marsh

When the first locomotive arrived and was assembled, it looked more like a hoisting engine that might be used to raise a piano to a third story window, rather than a revolutionary machine to climb Mount Washington. It had no cab, no provisions for fuel, water storage or even a pump to fill the boiler. It couldn’t go very far without these things, but it was only intended to prove itself on a track that went about 600 feet up the mountainside.

It was August 29, 1866 when stockholders, railroad officials and other invited guests arrived at the base of the mountain to witness the demonstration. The locomotive had been named Hero, but somehow it didn’t look like the hero it would soon prove itself to be.

Someone in the crowd thought that the upright boiler looked like a pepper sauce bottle, a common item on kitchen tables of the period, and cried: “There’s your Peppersass!” From that moment, the engine was never known by any other name…

On July 3rd, 1869, the Mount Washington Railway officially opened to the public.

Summit House, Mt. Washington. This was the second hotel of the name, built in 1872-1873. It burned in 1908.

The Peppersass

Photo courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railways

It was acclaimed as one of the great engineering feats of the century. It was 544 days after the Golden Spike had been driven at Promontory, Utah, which celebrated the opening of the first transcontinental railroad in America, and Ulysses S. Grant was in his first term as President…[Grant] would ride on the Cog Railway later that summer…

For 139 years, the Mount Washington Cog Railway remained rooted in 19th century technology, with but few minor changes since the beginning. Then in 2008, the Mount Washington Cog Railway made a quantum leap into the 21st century with a fleet of cleaner, more efficient and state-of-the-art biodiesel locomotives designed and built on the property by railway personnel.

The Cog Today

Today it is the second steepest rack railway in the world after the Pilatus Railway in Switzerland, with an average grade of 37.41 percent. The railway is approximately 3 miles long and ascends Mount Washington's western slope, beginning at an elevation of some 2,700 feet above sea level and ending just short of the mountain's summit peak at 6,288 feet.

Passengers wait to b board the Cog for the trip to the summit.

Photo courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railway

It has an average grade of over 25% and a maximum grade of 37.41%. The railway is approximately 3 miles long and ascends Mount Washington’s western slope, beginning at an elevation of approximately 2,700 feet above sea level and ending just short of the mountain’s summit peak of 6,288 feet.

Wayne Presby, current owner of the railway with his wife, Susan, spoke of the first 150 years. “We consider the time we have spent at the railway a great honor. We feel that we have a solemn duty to the state of New Hampshire, its residents and all who have worked to keep the Cog Railway a viable entity. As the current owners of the railway, we intend to do everything in our power to continue to preserve, promote and enhance the railway and to ensure that 150 years from now it will be celebrating its 300th anniversary!”

Inside the passenger car

Photo Courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railway

Railway to the Moon Festival

Starting July 11, the Cog will host its annual Railway to the Moon festival.

In its 5th year, this exciting festival is a treat to the senses with costumes, live music, an interactive Steampunk train ride, presentations, tea dueling hosted by Jewelry City Steampunk, and more.

The Steampunk festival is a celebration of the inventiveness of Cog entrepreneur Sylvester Marsh, and his undaunted will to build a “Railway to the Moon”. It is a combination of the Wild West, meets Jules Verne meets the Victorian Era with a circus atmosphere. https://www.railwaytothemoon.com

In a time of rough iron and wooden things, the Mount Washington Cog Railway was an outrageous idea, but enough was rightly done in its creation for it to last into the next century and the next. It has always been privately owned, first by big railroads and then by a succession of local business people. Through the influences of many changing eras, it has survived hurricanes, washout, fires, depression, recessions, energy crunches, politicians, experts, tinkerers, bad coal and porcupines.

Nearing the summit

Photo courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railway

The Cog Railway is located at 3168 Base Road, Mount Washington, NH just six miles from historic Bretton Woods and Rte. 302, 3 hours north of Boston and 6 hours north of NYC.

The Cog defending Mt. Washington

Photo courtesy Mt. Washington Cog Railway

More information on the season events, schedule and rates can be found by calling 800-922-8825 or online: https://thecog.com