Built In 1869 To Help Hikers And Tourists Get To The Top Of Mt. Washington Safely
Not far from the summit of Mt. Washington, NH, New England’s tallest mountain and the site of the highest wind speeds ever recorded, a lonely pile of stones marks the spot where one of the mountain’s saddest tragedies occurred. Lizzie Bourne, a 23-year-old resident of Kennebunk, Maine, set out on the afternoon of Sept. 14, 1855 with her uncle and cousin Lucy, to climb Mt. Washington. Before they reached the top, one of the sudden storms that the mountain is famous for caused the party to seek shelter behind a pile of stones. Lizzie, wearing just a shawl against the chill, died of exposure during the night. The rising sun revealed that the party had been just a few hundred yards from the lodge - and safety - at the mountain’s summit.
At the time, Mt. Washington was one of the earliest and most popular tourist destinations in the United States. “Everyone knew about Mt. Washington all over the world,” says Howie Wemyss, local history buff and manager of the Mt. Washington Auto Road. “Once the railroad came through, climbing the mountain became hugely popular. They called it ‘tramping’ back then.” Several hiking trails led to the summit and the railroad sponsored the building of a bridle path, which in 1861 expanded into a carriage road. In the 1850s, two hotels were built on top of the mountain to host those who made it to the top - the Summit House and the Tip-Top House.
Lizzie Bourne was just one of the numerous victims claimed by Mt. Washington and its infamous weather. A couple of years after her death, another adventure which almost ended in a similar tragedy would lead to the invention of an engineering marvel - the cog railway - which allowed travelers to reach the summit in safety and comfort.
In 1857, Sylvester Marsh, a New Hampshire native and inventor, set off with a friend to climb the famous peak. “He got caught in bad weather but made it to the Tip-Top House,” Becky Metcalf, media manager for the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, tells The Buzz. “He did a lot of thinking up on top.”
Marsh, who made his fortune inventing equipment used to process grain into cereal, had recently returned to his native state from Chicago. “He decided that he could build a railroad to the top of Mt. Washington using the cog technology he had used in previous inventions,” Metcalf explains. “Everybody called him crazy. The New Hampshire Legislature called it the Railway to the Moon. They granted him a charter to do it because they believed it would never work.”
Marsh proved the politicians wrong, although he had to wait out the Civil War to get his project started. By 1866, he had built his first engine, a steam-powered locomotive that earned the nickname “Peppersass” thanks to its resemblance to a bottle of a popular brand of pepper sauce. Doubters were converted into investors and, in 1869, the same year that the driving of the golden spike marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, the Cog Railway opened to Mt. Washington’s summit. President Ulysses S. Grant took the train to the top that first year.
The engineering marvel achieved fame around the world. Jacob’s Ladder, the steepest part of the tracks, recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, takes the train up a 13.4 percent incline. Along this stretch, the heads of those in the front of the coach are 13 feet above those in the back.
Now nearing its 150th anniversary, Marsh’s Cog Railway continues to chug up the slope of 6,288-foot Mt. Washington from May through November. A round trip takes about 3 hours - an hour up, an hour down, and an hour on the summit. In 1910, the steam locomotives switched from burning wood to coal, consuming one ton of coal and 1,000 gallons of water on every trip to the top.
In 2008, the families that own the Cog, all New Hampshire natives, decided to take the railway green with another major innovation. Cog crews developed an environmentally friendly locomotive that runs on biodiesel fuel, eliminating the thick black smoke that for a century had marked the Cog’s path up the mountain. Six biodiesel engines are now in use, but steam engine enthusiasts can catch the first trip every day, when the vintage coal-burning locomotives make the trip.
Local native Jim Glidden serves as a brakeman on several trains a day, giving informal tours of the railway’s history and mountain ecology. “Used to be that you’d smell burning coal all the way up,” he says. “Now it’s more like french fries.” The train rises through several ecological zones, arriving at arctic tundra at 5,000 feet. Only hurricane force winds, over 70 miles per hour, keep the Cog from reaching the summit. “We had those for the first two trips yesterday,” Jim says on a September trip.
At the summit, now Mt. Washington State Park, visitors join hikers for hot chocolate in the cafeteria and enjoy stunning views from the observation decks. On a clear day, you can see more than 100 miles, across five states and Quebec, and as far as the Atlantic Ocean. Tip-Top House, now a National Historic Site, is a free museum detailing the hospitality offered to early visitors. Another museum tells the story of the violent weather recorded at the Mt. Washington Observatory, familiar from news reports. Visitors can tour the famous Weather Room by pre-booking a guided tour. A photo op at the rock cairn that marks the summit is a must for every visitor.
Brakeman Jim points out various natural wonders such as dwarf trees stunted by the cold, “older than the railroad,” and rime ice that forms even in summer. “We’re proud of the fact that we have the worst weather in the world up here,” he says. “The Native Americans called this the place where spirits dwell. I think it’s one of the seven wonders of the world.”
Renee Wright
A graduate of Franconia College in Social Psychology, Renee has worked as Travel Editor for Charlotte Magazine and has written three travel guidebooks for Countryman Press among other writing assignments. She enjoys food and camping.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Twin Mountain/ Mt. Washington KOA, an award-winning campground in the heart of New Hampshire's scenic White Mountains. Offering the best in New Hampshire family camping where great memories are made.