Mount Washington Cog Railway

I have never been to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, but I am intrigued by it, and by everything I have heard about it. Mount Washington is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, the Mount Washington Observatory recorded a windspeed of 231 miles per hour at the summit, the world record from 1934 until 1996. Mount Washington still holds the record for highest measured wind speed not associated with a tornado or tropical cyclone. Can you just imagine trying to stand outside in that wind? I can’t imagine trying to stand out in that wind, especially in winter, but I can imagine seeing that place…maybe not on a really windy day, but just to see the top would be very cool.

There are basically three ways to get to the top of Mount Washington. The first is to drive up on the Mount Washington Auto Road. If you choose this one, you can get one of the This Car Climbed Mount Washington bumper stickers that are common throughout New England following your trip up the mountain, but to me that rather defeats the purpose reaching the summit. Now, if a person is an experienced hiker, there is a hiking trail to the top. And if you are really fanatical, you can hike it in Winter, taking the Snow Coach halfway up. Now, I like to hike, but definitely not in the Winter. One of the shortest, most scenic, and most popular trails to the summit is the 4.2-mile class 2 Tuckerman Ravine Trail that starts at the AMC Pinkham Notch Visitor Center (2050′). While 4.2 miles is doable, the class 2 part, meaning “more difficult hiking that may be off-trail. You may also have to put your hands down occasionally to keep your balance. May include easy snow climbs or hiking on talus/scree. Class 2 includes a wide range of hiking, and a route may have exposure, loose rock, steep scree, etc” is a little more off-putting for me.

That leaves the final, and for me, most intriguing way to make the summit…the Mount Washington Cog Railway. While the other ways to reach the summit are very cool, the Cog is special!! This is basically a mountain climbing train. It’s a unique journey that is as much of a fun retro adventure as it is an impressive engineering marvel. The track of the Cog Railway is approximately 3 miles long, and it ascends up Mount Washington’s western slope, beginning at an elevation of approximately 2,700 feet above sea level and ending just short of the mountain’s summit peak of 6,288 feet. The Cog is the second-steepest rack railway in the world to this day. It is second only to the Pitalus Railway in Switzerland.