Visit to a National Engineering Achievement-The Mount Washington Cog Railroad

Early on Friday morning my wife and I headed north to go visit a recognized ASCE and ASME National Engineering Achievement, The Mount Washington Cog Railroad. Helping our decision was the expectation

that temperatures were going to exceed 100 degrees in the greater Concord area. The rides begin at 8:30am with the first ride of the day guaranteed to be a nostalgic steam engine run with most of the runs being the newer biodiesel locomotives. The single older steam engine still in service requires about one ton of coal and about 1000 gallons of water to reach the summit. The new biodiesel engines require about 18 gallons of bio-diesel to make the round trip.

The base camp is at the elevation of 2700 feet above sea level. The summit of Mount Washington is approximately 6280 feet above sea level. The rail line is approximately three and one third miles long. The average grade of the rail line is approximately 25%, although the stretch along what is called "Jacob's Ladder" is about a 37.4% grade.

The locomotive is propelled up the mountain on what a car dealer might call a "rack and pinion" system. The train runs on two outside rails with a center rack system.

Above is the underside of an old locomotive showing the center gear or cog. Below is a picture of the track with the two outside rails and the inside "rack" that receives the cog. The cog railroad has been in existence since the year 1869 taking three years to build. The first locomotives had wood fired boilers for the first forty years switching to coal in about 1910. The bio-diesel locomotives began in September of 2008. The railroad was invented and built by Sylvester Marsh of Littleton, NH.He passed away in December 1884 in Concord, NH. The railroad has generally run continuously since 1869 with the exception of a few years during World War I and World War II. There is also descriptions of major devastation to the track during the hurricane of 1938, but it was not clear how long it took to repair the track after that event.

Above, left is one of the newer bio-diesel engines. To the right is the remaining steam engine with its coal car. Note the slant of the older locomotive such that it is level when climbing and descending the mountain.

Inside the passenger car the cabin reminded me of an older boat with the fine wood work. Sitting down in the seats, my first impression was that it would be an uncomfortable ride. For anyone who has ever sat in a chair designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this was a similar experience. The chairs are beautiful to look at, but very uncomfortable. What I did not initially understand is that the entire train is designed to be at an angle between 25 and 30 degrees. When you are on flat ground they are very uncomfortable, but as you begin the ascent, their design is better understood, and appreciated.

Above, left is a photo of the inside of the passengers cabin with passengers loading at the front of the train. On the right is the brakemen manning the brakes on the way down. It is important to note that the locomotives actually push the passenger car up to the top of the mountain. On the way back down the locomotive and passenger car are only "connected" by gravity. At any time the brakeman can slow the car down and safely navigate down the mountain independent of the locomotive. The train does not turn around at the top of the mountain, which at first concerned the passengers who were contemplating going back down the mountain facing backwards, but with true Yankee ingenuity, the base of the seat (bench) stays at the exaggerated angle, but the back rest flips over so the same bench can now seat individuals in the opposite direction. Looking at the picture above on the left, the blue hardware can be seen in the left foreground. The front portion is fixed while the back portion connected to the back rest flips over.

Above, left traveling up the mountain note the trestle that the track is founded upon. It was determined that constructing a continuous trestle was more efficient than the earthwork required to found it on soil. On the right is the segment known as "Jacob's Ladder". In addition to its impressive grade is also the height of the trestle which is higher than other segments along the track. Note that in these pictures when the locomotive is visible, the train is descending the mountain (yellow cab in right photo).

Because there is often more than one train on the mountain it was necessary to construct sections of double track to allow for them to pass on the mountain. A series of switches have been constructed to move the trains to the proper sets of rails. Above on the left is a photo of the switches and the rail supports. These rails are solar powered and have very specific protocols are far as what positions they are left, likely due to an accident to be discussed later. On the right the brakeman loom out of the heavy fog as they verify proper alignment of the cog and outer rails after a switch.

As mentioned earlier, we left Concord in the morning to avoid 100 degree temperatures. What we found on the top of the mountain was truly a different world. The temperature on the summit was about 20 degrees cooler than the base making us comfortable in spring jackets. Outside the observatory, thick fog and high winds made the surroundings very surreal. It also made exploring a very  questionable activity as when the sun was blocked out, visibility was only about twenty feet. When the sun burned through short periods of visibility extended to about two hundred feet only to disappear again. The photo on the left was taken during a brief period of visibility. After taking the photo, in the time it took to grab my hat back from a gust of wind, the railing shown in the picture disappeared back into the fog.

The picture to the left is the first locomotive originally called "Hero", but better known as "Peppersass". Named for the resemblance between its boiler and a bottle of pepper sauce, the name stuck. This was a wood fired locomotive that began service in 1866 and operated for twelve years until its retirement in 1878. After its retirement it traveled around for a number years including to the Chicago World's Fair in in 1893. As the 60th anniversary of the Mount Washington Cog Railroad approached, it was decided to restore Peppersass for a final trip up the mountain. The restoration was completed and  test runs were successful leading up to the official ceremonies on July 20,1929

Peppersass was the last locomotive to head up the mountain. It made convincing progress through the trip, but turned around about a half mile from the top to avoid delaying the other six trains coming back down. Unfortunately on the return trip the cog broke a tooth and slid out of the center rack. The result was the locomotive careening back down the track with no means of slowing down. Of the five on board of the locomotive, the first to jump was unhurt and the next three escaped with only broken bones, but the last to deboard did so at an alarming speed near the base of Jacob's Ladder and was killed when he struck the adjacent rocks. Peppersass was later recovered and is now on display. 

A second major accident occurred on September 17, 1967, when a mishap with a switch, likely leading up to the strict protocols mentioned previously, resulted in a derailment that resulted in eight deaths and seventy-two injuries. Even with these two occurrences, with millions of passengers transported in the life of the railroad it still has an impressive safety record.

The other part of the history of the Cog Railroad that I enjoyed was the discussion about slide boards or as they were affectionately known "the devil's shingle". These were small transports made of wood and steel arranged to fit onto the center rail that allowed rail workers to slide down the tracks in a sitting position. They were about three feet long and about one foot wide with just enough room for a worker and a small compartment for their tools. The speed could be controlled using friction brakes on either side. The normal descent time was about fifteen minutes, but there were some recorded times of less than three minutes. As guests started trying the slide boards and after a worker was killed in an accident, the practice was officially banned in 1906 by the railroad. Shortly after the design of the center rail was altered eliminating a flange that was critical to speed control effectively eliminating even the unofficial uses.

Thanks to http://www.cog-railway.com/ and "The Mount Washington Cog Railway" by Bruce Heald for contributing facts to supplement the experience. Photos by poster.