Building A FreakOut: Cog Railway here we come!

Have you heard? We’ve ironed out the group pricing for the Cog Railway, trip to the summit! There are so many details for each event we have, it’s exciting when everything comes together.

So, I’m happy to say we now have group pricing for the FreakOut, COG Railway trip on Thursday June 8th. We will leave the hotel at 9:00AM for our 11:00AM trip up the mountain. With a minimum of 20 people in our group the rate offered is $59.00pp for the Biodiesel 3-hour, round trip excursion to the summit (normally $72-$86). We are required to check in as a group 45 minutes prior to departure. There is food and restrooms available at the base and summit. I’ve asked for menus but haven’t received them yet. I’ll let you know when I get them.

Where the Auto Road is located on the Eastern face of Mt. Washington in Gorham. The Cog Railway is located on the Western face of Mt. Washington, near Bretton Woods.

It’s a beautiful ride from the Grand Summit to Marshfield Base station. Don’t miss the picturesque view of the Omni Mount Washington Hotel, at the base of Mt. Washington and the Cog Railway, in the distance. The Omni is located on the right just before you turn onto Base Station Road heading toward Marshfield Station.

Marshfield Station houses the reservation and ticketing desk, a food court, gift shop, free museum and restrooms. While at the base check out the museum. Sylvester Marsh began his quest to build the Cog Railway after being caught in a life-threatening storm on Mt. Washington. After Marsh and his companion barely made it to the shelter of the Tip Top house at the summit, he decided there had to be a better way.
The Tip top house built in 1853 still stands today at the summit.

Putting the time period in perspective:
Marsh was a Chicago business man and his attorney was Abraham Lincoln.
Construction progress was delayed by the American Civil War.
The Cog Railway debuted in 1869 along with the Suez Canal, the completion of the Transcontinental Railway at Promontory, Utah and the Waffle Iron. And other than the Wyoming Territory, women still didn’t have the right to vote. What!

Opening in 1869 the Cog was the first cog railway in the world.
To this day, the Cog is the only railway in the world whose mainline tracks are built entirely above ground level. It’s also the second steepest railway in the world.

The cog gear and rack were not Marsh’s invention, but the application of that technology to a mountain climbing railway certainly was.

In 1866 Marsh took delivery of the railway’s first locomotive. Built in Boston at a cost of $2000. Marsh devised an ingenious system of using air pressure in its steam cylinders to safely control the engine’s descent. The first locomotive, nick named “Old Peppersass” for its pepper sauce bottle shape is on display at Marshfield Station.

The Cog Railway, Museum and website (thecog.com) are full of interesting historical information. You will also find the Mt. Washington Observatory Weather Discovery Center at the summit.

One of my favorite pieces of history is the Devil’s Shingles. At the end of the long work day each evening, many track workers descended on slideboards known as Devil’s Shingles. I pulled the photo and clip below from the website.

Little more than a narrow plank of wood that rode on the center rack track, each homemade contraption was fitted with a seat, foot rests and hand brakes designed to grip the overhanging lip of the rack. The average trip from summit to base station took about 15 minutes, but boys being boys, competitive descents soon became common. The record time was 2 minutes 45 seconds at an average speed of 60 mph!

Eventually, however, the state of New Hampshire (the “live free or die” state) outlawed the use of the Devil’s Shingles, apparently because way too many workers were living free and dying on them!

I’ll be happy to chug up and down on the Biodiesel train but I bet it was exhilarating to travel via Devil’s Shingle.

We visited the Cog Railway in November during volunteer weekend. Trips to the summit are not available this time of year. Through the winter months the trains stop at the 4000’ Waumbek station. We visited the newly build winter station. At 4000’, Waumbek is now the cornerstone of their cold-weather service, featuring 3 large, elevated decks with magnificent views to the north and west, 5 warming huts, complimentary hot refreshments & yummy cookies, portable restrooms, and a large fire pit.

It was an overcast day but chugging up the mountain in the beautiful hand-built car with our Fiat friends was great. Also interesting was the way the clouds were quickly moving through, changing the view moment by moment.

Notice the beautiful wood work that is carried throughout the car.

Here we’re stopped at Waumbek station, enjoying the complimentary hot drinks and cookies. The new station was inviting and the Cog staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Everywhere you look on the Cog Railway property shows the pride and workmanship of the staff.

Check out the new Cog cam https://www.thecog.com/cogcam I just checked it out, it’s snowing but I see they have a train ready to go.