2023 Summer Road Trip Day 9 – Mount Washington Cog Railroad

Thursday, July 13, 2023

As planned, today we took the 8:30 Cog Wheel Train to the summit of Mount Washington.  Wow!  We were blessed with a sunny start to the day.  You get to choose the bio-diesel or the steam engine for the trip.  We chose the coal fired steam engine.  The trip to the summit is a little over 3 miles and takes about an hour in the steam engine.  It is a little less time in the Bio-deisel.  If you aren’t familiar with a cog wheel train follow this link.  You can feel/hear the cogs attaching and releasing as you go up the mountain.  The Mount Washington Cog is the first mountain climbing railway in the world.  With an average grade of 25% and some as high as 38% it’s also the second steepest in the world.  You also need to remember the horribly harsh conditions at the Summit (6,288 feet) for much of the year.  It is said that Mt Washington has the world’s worst weather.  The highest temperature ever recorded was 72 and the lowest -47.  The average temperature is 26.

It was an interesting trip up.  In about an hour you go through 3 climate zones to arrive at the top of New England.  It reminds us of the frozen tundra in Manitoba or Alaska.  When we reached the top the temperature was down to 52 with a 30 mph wind.  So thankful we read the instructions and dressed warmly.  Yes, there were people at the summit in shorts!  The wind was pretty brutal.  We spent about an hour on the summit – some out in the cold exploring and the rest inside at the museum.  The trip back down was just as interesting although slightly faster.  The brakeman really had to work to keep the train under control on the way down.  Very glad we decided to take the Cog to the summit.  We definitely recommend it.

After fixing some lunch, we left base camp and enjoyed a beautiful drive to Freeport, Maine – our fourth new state.  We spent the afternoon wandering around Freeport, visiting some of the many shops including several of the L.L.Bean Shops.  It was another great day.