Mt. Washington Cog Railway #MtWashingtonCogRailway

One of our first trips was to New Hampshire and of course we went to the Mt. Washington Cog Railway located in Bretton Woods NH. For those of you who have never been to a Cog railroad or understand the cog part, the mountain is so steep that a special drive wheel is put in the middle of the train and the wheel looks like a giant wheel or cog. This cog fits into a section in the middle of the track and propels the train up the steep mountain. I am not an engineer or expert but I do like to think this cog also helps keep the train from sliding backwards or going downhill at too great a speed where there is a loss of control. I believe the track is actually built up off the ground level to allow for the cog and there a number of bridges to cross the ravines. The mountain is so steep that the boilers on the steam train were pitched at an odd angle that were actually flatter when the train was going up and down the mountain.

The ride is 3 hours round trip, 1 hour up, 1 hour at the top and then an hour trip back down to the base. When we took the trip they only had steam locomotives and the noise was a bit much for any narration or conversation. I believe there was some but not a whole lot. Now they run Bio Diesels most of the time with a steam run or 2 daily. Their website boasts renovated cars and a narrated trip so I would think they may have been able to address the noise but I have not been on it in quite a few years.

We were up there again a year ago with our 7 year old but did not make the ride. As much as I would have been inclined to ride the train we did not think he would find it quite as enjoyable. The other factor is we would have had to do the steam locomotive trip which is the first run of the day and our unit was over an hour away.

We did find a really nice trail on the other side of the tracks but did not go down very far. I have since heard from some scout friends that there are trails to hike the mountain which is something I may want to try.

I have also seen their first locomotive "Peppersass" at the train show put on in West Springfield MA by the Amherst Railway Society. It is loaded onto a trailer and makes its way down for the festivities. I did hear a story from a person working in the gift shop that it was given the name "Peppersass" by someone with a Boston accent trying to say it looked like a bottle of pepper sauce but I have no way of knowing how true that may be.

All in all take the ride or just tour the grounds, go through the museum and gift shop it is all very interesting and to me a lot of fun.