This text comes from the website of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, giving its history and of a unique steam engine – its first locomotive …”His dream began in 1852 when, after becoming lost near the summit of Mount Washington, Sylvester Marsh knew that there had to be a better way for people to reach the highest mountain peak in the Northeast. Upon his return home, he immediately started working on a plan to build the world’s first mountain climbing cog railway.
Marsh, a native of Campton, New Hampshire, had made his fortune in Chicago’s meat-packing industry and was considered by his contemporaries to be a creative and inventive thinker. However, upon first presenting his idea to members of the New Hampshire Legislature, they laughed at him and said that he “might as well build a railway to the moon.” Undaunted, Marsh began the task of building his mountain climbing railway, along with investors Herrick and Walter Aiken, a father and son team from Franklin, New Hampshire. The task was not an easy one, as equipment and materials had to be hauled by oxen for 25 miles to Bretton Woods, and then another 6 miles through thick forest to the base of Mount Washington. On July 3, 1869, ‘Old Peppersass’, now on display at the Base Station, became the first cog-driven engine to climb the 6,288-foot Mount Washington.” — see
http://www.thecog.com/cog_scene.php?img=the_original_cog_engine for image on the engine – the railroad has great images of the road, its engines, and the view from the top – have not had the chance to ride this train – has to be an incredible experience.
