Steam & Excursion > Up and down Mt. Washington

A hike up Mt. Washington Friday from the Cog Railway base station confirmed two things for me.  Firstly, I’m not as young as I used to be 😐, and secondly, the Cog’s steam trains are much more fun to watch than their diesels.  Here’s a video of Waumbek approaching the summit, then descending toward the mid-station.  Sorry about the sound - there was a pretty steady wind at higher  elevations.

Dave

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Here are some stills from the summit...

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Here's a diesel train on the way up, then heading down.  The last panoramic shot shows three of four trains that descended at close intervals.  The base station is in the distance...about a two and half hour walk away!

Dave

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Thanks for posting the excellent video and stills. Very much a fun ride. Have done it a couple times but never with such good weather. Good to see that steam is still there.

Tom

Oh the horror of all that nasty smoke coming from that environmental unfriendly locomotive. Lets hope the  real leader of the House of Representatives AOC doesn't see your video. The reaming steam will be banned forever. 

Looks as though you had a clear day at the summit, an unusual occurence.

Those are fantastic, Dave!

Many photographers omit the "big picture" here and zoom in on the locomotive.

Very nice perspectives!  Don't know that I've seen photos that so well illustrate
just how high up the trains are - most scenes looking up from below or down from
above, yet so few broadsides.

I concur regarding that boardom diesel.

/Mitch

Really nice photos.  What kind of temperatures did you experience?  Do I see patches of snow on the mountain side?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/19 12:20 by boejoe.

Mgoldman Wrote:
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> Those are fantastic, Dave!
>
> Many photographers omit the "big picture" here and
> zoom in on the locomotive.
>
> Very nice perspectives!  Don't know that I've
> seen photos that so well illustrate
> just how high up the trains are - most scenes
> looking up from below or down from
> above, yet so few broadsides.
>
> I concur regarding that boardom diesel.
>
> /Mitch

Keep in mind that Mount Washington is the highest peak in the northeastern United States. It is also generally very windy there averaging 35 MPH and with many days in excess of 75 MPH with gusts to 150 MPH. Until fairly recently that mountain held the record for the highest non cyclonic winds of 231 MPH.

The auto road has a sign just before the toll booth stating "This is a narrow winding mountain road with preciptous drops and no guard rails. This may not be for you".Yes, I have been up there both under steam and also on the auto road. I have even flown off of the peak on a hang glider a few years ago. Spectacular scenery!!

-Fred-

What is that grade?

Thanks all for the positive feedback!  I had actually planned to hike Mt. Jefferson, not Washington on Friday, but found that the road to the trailhead was still closed for the season.  To answer a couple of questions -

- the average grade on the Cog is about 25%, with maximum about 37.5%.

- Temperatures were quite pleasant .  Low 60s at the base, low 50s above tree line.  From Lake of the Clouds to the summit there was a pretty consistent breeze - maybe about 25 mph.  Very comfortable for hiking.

- Yes, there's still snow.  We encountered some on the Ammanoosuc Ravine trail on the ascent.  It was firm enough to walk over, although it looked like some others had "post-holed" previously.  The Gulfside and Jewell trails were snow-free on the descent, although plenty of snow patches remain visable.  Here's my hiking buddy Ozzie checking it out....

Dave



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/19 07:35 by DavidP.

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Thanks for the pics and video.