It was off to the White Mountain National Forest to catch the Cog Railway to the top of Mt. Washington. We took a biodiesel train up the 3 1/4 miles straight up the hill, but visitors could also take the coal-fired steam engines. Total ascent time in a biodiesel engine - around 40 minutes. The coal-fired steam train can take anywhere from 1 to 1.5 hours to go the short distance. We saw the railway team running the coal-fired steam train, but it was being put away for the season. The weather was a bit too cold for operation.
Notice the icicles on the water tower in front of the train.We arrived at the train station early, and thought we might be the only visitors on the mountain for a Monday morning. With only 2 trains a day running this time of year, we ended up going with 63 other passengers. It was a tight ride, but fun.
We wore our "big puffies" and thought we might look ridiculous being the only ones in big coats. We might have looked ridiculous, but we were the only ones warm enough not to complain about the 15 degree wind chill at the top of Mt. Washington.
Some Mount Washington Cog Railway Facts:
- National Historic Engineering Landmark
- They limit the use of the steam and coal locomotives and rely on the friendlier-to-the-environment and faster biodiesel locomotives
- Marshfield Base Station (where we started) is at 2,700 feet
- The Cog Railway was the first mountain climbing railway in the world.
- Construction began in 1866, and the first excursion to the top was on July 3, 1869.
- The railway was designed and built by Sylvester Marsh of Campton, NH. Why did he build it? He wanted everyone to get safely to the top of the mountain. When he climbed the summit, he was caught in a storm, which forced him to spend the night at the top.
- New Hampshire Legislature thought this was a ridiculous feat and gave Marsh a permit to build a "Railway to the Moon."
- The summit of Mt. Washington is 6,288 feet
It was an eerie sensation climbing the mountain. You could feel the cla-clunk, cla-clunk, cla-clunk of the cog moving inch-by-inch up the tracks.
By now, you are probably wondering (just as I was) "What is a cog, anyway?"
It is a large (usually metal) gear wheel. It is placed with another gear wheel to move something - in our case, a train.
The biodiesel pushed us from behind while our guide sat (In front of the railing, mind you!) and checked for ice on the track. We traveled over "Jacob's Ladder," which is a 37% grade section of the track. And saw the "Level House" which gives visitors an idea of just how steep the mountain is.
Jacob's Ladder
The winds are so intense at the summit, that the icicles attached to buildings and the railway are parallel with the ground - just like the trees on the Atlantic coast leaning because of hurricane winds! To learn more about the Mount Washington Observatory at the summit, click here. Observers document their experiences on a blog and you can see the current conditions through their webcam. Very cool!
The top of the railroad track at the summit.
Underneath the railroad tracks at the summit.
The icy railing at the summit.
We have toyed with the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail for years, but decided against it because of the months and months spent within trees. However, our train ride up Mt. Washington, and the spectacular views from the summit, made us realize that not all of the trail presents trees. There are some views, too! Maybe one day we will attempt the Appalachian Trail - starting in Maine, of course.
We haven't seen any welcome signs when crossing state lines. Perhaps it is because we are approaching on highways instead of freeways or interstates. Still, we have not seen a "Welcome to Vermont" or a "Welcome to New Hampshire" sign. We have seen signs marking the state lines, though. We suppose there are no welcome signs because residents don't actually want tourists to come in to their state. We imagined a Maine welcome sign: "Welcome to Maine. Now go back to Not-Maine."
3 comments:
hmmm--horizontal icicles! What a fascinating place Mt. Washington must be to see. I read about a cog railway recently, but did not have a very good visual concept--thanks for the photos!
Love, Linda
I was going to say I heard that the common wisdom was to start in Maine in the beginning of the Fall when it is still warm and begin traveling south through the the colors while sustaining warm temperatures. But if you guys had follow common wisdon I wouldn't have seen you in your big puffies or horizontal iceflowers. Thanks for being uncommonly wise. (Pssst, I have a confession. I adore lighthouses and the best part of your trip for me is all your visits to lighthouses and the great photos).
I am back to ice. You have taken some truly awesome photos along your adventure. I must say this recent one of the railing at the summit with the horizontal ice crystals is wonderful.
Wind chill: Doesn't seem to be calculable at wind speeds above a measly 110 MPH but with a little extrapolation my guess is that if you were on the Mt. Washington summit in 25 degree weather at 231 MPH the wind chill would be -9 to - 16 degrees below zero. Your big puffies could handle that except that with your wind drag you would probably blow off the mountain summit like a little kid's helium balloon let go at the Louisiana County Fair during Hurricane Katrina. And we complained about our 60 MPH gusts at Ingraham Flats.
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