Even the drive along Base Station Road is beautiful– every twist and turn reveals new perspectives on the Presidential Range. Located in the heart of the majestic White Mountains region of northern New Hampshire, Marshfield Base Station is 6 miles east of Route 302 on the western face of Mount Washington. And with a nod to its steam heritage, the railway also continues to operate a pair of coal-fired steam engines in the warmer months, both well over a century old. With an average grade of 25% (some sections approach nearly 38%), it’s also the second steepest! Motive power is primarily provided by a fleet of seven powerful biodiesel locomotives, each custom designed, built and maintained on site. The Cog is the first mountain-climbing cog railway in the world. ![]() Today, more than 150 years later, the Mount Washington Cog Railway continues to thrill passengers from all over the world with its dramatic ascent to the summit of the highest peak in the Northeast. ![]() High praise indeed from the man whose grand circus occupied the primary spot. Barnum proclaimed in 1869 as he stepped down off the train and marveled at the view from Mount Washington’s rocky summit. Most through hikers on the AT agree that the trails that run through the White Mountains are the most challenging portion of the entire 2200 mile route.Īhead on the right but still several hundred feet higher is your destination: the Sherman Adams Visitor Center on the summit of Mount Washington.That’s what showman P.T. The AT runs nearly 2200 miles up the east coast from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in northern Maine. Running parallel to the tracks on the left is the Gulfside Trail, the local stretch of a much longer trail system known as the Appalachian Trail. Hiking is a popular pastime in the White Mountains, and on either side of the train you’ll see pyramid shaped piles of rocks, or cairns, marking various trails. As the tracks turn to the southeast and begin to level out, on the left you’ll see the magnificent Northern Presidentials: Mounts Clay, Jefferson, Adams and Madison, and beyond, the mountains of western Maine. You’re now at tree line, roughly 5000’ above sea level, and climbing along the side of the summit cone toward an area known as Skyline. ![]() Once across the trestle you’ll pass Frog Rock, a brightly painted boulder used by train crews as a location marker in bad weather. One of eight similar hiker shelters sprinkled throughout the White Mountains, Lakes is the largest and can accommodate 90 overnight guests. Jacob’s is the steepest section of the Cog Railway, and the steepest railroad trestle anywhere in the world.įrom the center of the trestle, look to your right across the ravine and you’ll see the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Lakes of the Clouds hut, high in the saddle between Mount Washington and Mount Monroe. 300 feet long and curving to the left, your train is now climbing at a 37.41% grade- that’s a 37 foot elevation change for every 100 feet of forward movement. And then just as suddenly, you’re nearly 25 feet above the surface of the mountain.įrom an engineering standpoint, Jacob’s is impressive indeed. Suddenly, the dense and rocky forest on either side drops away, the air freshens and the wind picks up, and if the weather is clear, you realize that the train has been following a narrow ridge between two deep chasms- Burt’s Ravine on the left, and the Ammonoosuc Ravine on the right. As the train passes Profile Rock, the mountain’s true character begins to reveal itself.
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