Mount Washington Cog Railway

I read the original post to say "3-inch gauge." If the distance between his rails is 3 inches, that would represent 4' 8", or 1" in his model equals 18.67 inches in the prototype; call it roughly 1:19 scale. The model is probably about two feet long.

-John

Greetings: I am very glad that you like the model. It took about 230 hours to complete. The total length is 16.5 inches with the width between the rails being 3".
Thanks
Jerry Kelley

Yes, it is an amazing project. I hope I have included a link to a picture of a model I have.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =3&theater

What a fantastic model! Don helped me out with facts and stats for my model.
Don Bray does great work.
Jerry

Yes, he sure does good work. I feel lucky to have been able to buy that model. The details are amazing. There is even an "owners manual" to go with it!

Rode the Cog on Saturday. Plan was to do the North Conway Scenic, but schedules did not allow so we did this instead. Having never done either, I was very happy with this opportunity.

Booked tix on the phone Saturday morning -- we didn't have access to a printer or good internet connection, so Ma Bell served us well. Reserved two seats on the 11:30 departure (only the first run of the day, at 8:15, is steam, rest are bio-diesel). Arrived a couple minutes after 11 and picked up our tix, lined up at 11:15, and boarding started right around then. Last boarders got on the train at around 11:25, so even though they tell you you must be there by 11:15, there is some wiggle room.

Good trip up, brakeman was quite entertaining. We were in the second row (facing up) on the left side of the car (the "scarier" side, per the literature), and enjoyed the ride up. Got into the clouds in the final 200 or so feet, and there was nearly zero visibility at the summit, with winds of 50-55 mph. Walked around and saw what we could see, then caught the 1:10PM train down. Got on the left side (facing down), row, up against the back door, so had a great view of the tracks and switches on the ride down. Brakeman announced trip would take 35 minutes ("unless something goes wrong, in which case it could be just two minutes"), but actually took closer to 50 minutes. Not nearly as entertaining a ride, but there is less to see going down, and he was working the brake wheels (in theory, at least).

We checked out the steam engine and headed back to our base.

Not sure it's worth the $55 or so/person fare (in other words, we won't be returning soon), but the brakes on my Subie were pleased we didn't take the Auto road, and we did enjoy the trip. Maybe if the clouds had lifted we'd have a different feeling about the value.

Let's hope this new display stays maintained, I would hate to see this become another 470 issue 50 years from now.

Unfortunately, this display will be very enticing to vandals
While it will detract from the scenery, a high, heavy duty
chain link fence needs to be installed to protect the display.
Just this morning, someone splattered paint on the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington DC. That monument has security
cameras and personnel and still was vandalized. To think
that this good display in Twin Mountain NH will go unscathed
is wishful thinking.

Curious as to what a 470 issue is.........considering that other than the cosmetic stuff, it would appear that she is mechanically sound and could probably run easily with a standard Form 4. These people that bid on it did their homework before placing the bid........believe it, she is in better shape than she looks.

As for the display, the worst thing they could do is put a fence around it. That would be inviting vandals. The deterrent is the location. It is located in a very visable spot at the junction of 3 and 302 by the gazebo.........I live about 5 doors up on Rte 3......I don't see these vaunted vandals running around.

Has Loon ever had an issue with their display? I have never seen or heard of any issue with that loco

Reader#108 wrote:Curious as to what a 470 issue is.........considering that other than the cosmetic stuff, it would appear that she is mechanically sound and could probably run easily with a standard Form 4. These people that bid on it did their homework before placing the bid........believe it, she is in better shape than she looks.

If I'm reading 1566's post correctly, he was not implying that the Cog display was currently in condition comparable to 470; he was saying he hopes that it doesn't end up that way, 50 years down the road:

b&m 1566 wrote:Let's hope this new display stays maintained, I would hate to see this become another 470 issue 50 years from now.

(emphasis added by me)

Well, here is why I responded the way I did......

The 470 was owned by Maine Central, which became Guilford, which became Pan Am and it was donated by the first entity to Waterville.

There was no continuous management decisions being made, and the city didn't really do much to it to keep it preserved. HOWEVER, it is

in good mechanical shape and has been inspected and has a very good restoration shot.

#8 was put on display by The Cog. The Cog is exceptional at maintaining its equipment, and with it right around the bend and no management

change I firmly believe that it will be properly kept after. I believe that this locomotive is parts of the 4 and parts of the 8 to make the display 8 itself.

She will not be the last one put on display from what some of the guys were telling me when I went by there.

Anyhow, the elephant in the room was 470, so I responded that now that there is traction with her, she can be form 4'ed and run.

I went once back in 2009
Really nice weather
The day before the winds where near 200mph
When I went on it with my father and our charter group of 30 people
The temperature was 55 at base and near 70 at summit
It was all steam engines then
Stopped at Waumpach correct me on spelling if wrong fireman filled tank full of water
Brakeman was really nice name was Dan don't know last name
He coming back did a great job from jacobs ladder tressle to base station

fl9m2004 wrote:I went once back in 2009
Really nice weather
The day before the winds where near 200mphWhen I went on it with my father and our charter group of 30 people
The temperature was 55 at base and near 70 at summit
It was all steam engines then
Stopped at Waumpach correct me on spelling if wrong fireman filled tank full of water
Brakeman was really nice name was Dan don't know last name
He coming back did a great job from jacobs ladder tressle to base station

The last time the winds there were more than 170 mph was in 1985. Haven't been over 180 since 1934's recordsetting 231 mph.

In 2009, warmest temperature on the summit was 65 degrees, on July 18. Strongest winds that month were 80 mph. Strongest wind all that summer (May to September) was 95mph.

Tomorrow, Friday, is Railfans' Day at the Cog Railway. Steam will be featured three times.

http://www.thecog.com/pdf/Cog_Railfans_day_Sept2013.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Should be unique photo opportunities, passengers will be able to get off the train for photo runbys

First steam trip is at 8:15. Come early and watch the crew get the train ready.

I sometimes wonder what the folks at The Cog are thinking when they schedule the only steam run for the day at 8:15AM. I live in Northern MA and I have to get up at 4AM to have a reasonable shot at making that train. Even for folks who live closer, it's still a real early deal to make it up there. For those who would like to stay over, there are no economy hotels anywhere close.

I suspect that the real reason for scheduling the daily steam run at 8:15 is because on an otherwise diesel-only railroad, the slow-moving steam engine is just in the way. Get it out of the way early, I guess.

I could get excited about coming to a "Railfan Day" if the operation were going to steam up at least a couple of locomotives and run mostly steam for one day. As it stands, I think the only thing that distinguishes this event from any other day are two mid-day extra runs to Waumbek and back.

I miss the old days.

/Kevin