H I S T O R Y

 
The original "little train that could", the Mount Washington Cog Railway has been climbing to the summit of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire since July 3, 1869.  The track runs along a steep, 3.1 mile long trestle whose maximum gradient is over 37%, making it the second steepest mountain climbing train in the world, second only to the Pilatus Bahn in Switzerland.  The only railroad on Earth whose entire run is built on a trestle, the Mount Washington Cog Railway takes visitors on a timeless adventure to the summit of the 6288' mountain, 'home of the world's worst weather'.

M O U N T    W A S H I N G T O N    C O G    R A I L W A Y Rte. 302   •   Bretton Woods, NH 03589   •   (800) 922-8825

http://www.thecog.com/
 

The Cog Railway began with Sylvester Marsh's model engine which he demonstrated before the New Hampshire State Legislature in 1858.  Seven years later, "Crazy" Marsh had proven his demonstrations enough to secure a few potential investors.  In 1866, the first locomotive was built, which looked more like an upright peppersauce bottle on wheels (hence the nickname "Peppersass").  It had no fuel or water storage and no pump for the boiler; hence, it could only go about a tenth of a mile up a section of track on Mt. Washington.  But that was enough to prove its worth, for, on August 29, Peppersass climbed and descended the section of track many times pushing a wheeled platform full of passengers.  From 1867 to 1869, John Lyon fulfilled Marsh's dream and began laying track to the summit.  A coal car and water pump were added to Peppersass, as it became the sole means of transporting all the materials for building the trestle.  Today, the restored old Peppersass engine can be seen on display outdoors at the Base Station.

 

Sylvester Marsh's original plan for a cog railway

Original engine #2 (left), rebuilt as the Geo. Stephenson (right)

 

Around the turn of the century, Railway workers used to take a quick way down the mountain: They used to slide down the tracks on specially-built wooden planks called "slideboards", or "Devil's Shingles". Affixed to either side of the yard-long boards were handles that, when pulled up, allowed the crude braking system to grab the central rail. A typical ride down took only about 10 minutes, but workers often competed to attain record time. The fastest time to descend the three-mile track was an incredible 2 minutes and 45 seconds! Several deaths and injuries resulted from slideboard accidents, though, and their use was forbidden around 1920.

For further historical information on the Cog Railway, check out Paul Forbes's Railway to the Moon web page. When visiting the Cog, be sure to come see the museum on the first floor of the Marshfield Station building!