Quebec Road Trip

Up early and grabbed a quick breakfast at the Home2 Suites at which we are staying. On the road north by 7:15, headed for Crawford Notch and the Mt Washington Cog Railway base station. Up Rte 302 almost an hour and past the grand Omni Mount Washington Hotel and Resort to the Fabyan restaurant that is the landmark for the turn. Six miles back through the woods brought us to the cog railway station.

The cog railway was the brainchild of Sylvester Marsh, a multi-millionaire who had made his money in the Chicago meat packing industry and retired to this area. His idea was derided by critics and some friends but Marsh put his own money into it and researched the technology required – and invented some of the tech still used today. He opened the first version in 1869 and pushed it to the top a few years later. It was an instant success and has been since. It is still privately held and run with no subsidies. The resident staff makes everything they need, from timber cross ties to the locomotives that take the hand-built coaches up the mountain.

We had a 9:00 leaving time so we were there about 8:30 to pick up thickets and look around. The fall colors are in full display on the mountainsides along the road and the valley that the railway uses. The trains pulled up to the boarding area – a coach pushed by an engine (in our case, a bio-diesel engine; they have two steam-powered engine they also use). We boarded and sat for the intro from the brakeman/narrator. This cog railway was the first in the world! It is also the steepest cog railway with an average grade of 25% and a prolonged section that is a 37.4% grade! They lined up the three trains: A, B, C. All trains go up the same set of tracks to the same place. The “cog” in the cog railway comes from the method of drive that moves the train up the steep grades. The engine drives a cog that meshes with a rack in the center of the tracks. This allows the engines to climb grades that a regular rail engine (or even a car or 4WD) can climb.

We started up the mountain; three trains in single file (no other way) separated by varying distances from each other. The brakeman kept up a steady stream of information about the area, the first peoples here before the Europeans, the first settlers (the Crawfords, hence: Crawford Notch) and the efforts of Mr. Marsh. The scenery was spectacular, of course! Mountainsides carpeted in golds and yellows and reds for tens of miles. The brakeman pointed out the mountain ash trees that are producing clumps of red berries right now. Visibility was expected to be 50 miles – down from the customary 100 miles because of the haze from the Canadian wildfires. The weather on Mt W is notoriously fickle. It is billed as the “worst weather in the world.” The world record for a wind gust occurred here in 1933 when they recorded a gust of 231 miles per hour! The temperature can drop to minus 50 degrees F. Fortunately, our weather was great. Temps at the summit about 55 with 26 mph winds. We continued to climb the ascent. When we got to the 37% section, the brakeman had people try to stand in the aisle. They had to stand at a huge angle. Outside, the trees looked to be growing slanted. We pulled into the top about an hour after leaving base.

At the summit, there is a small museum, three gift shops, and several stations for telecommunications and weather recording. We took pictures of the scenery and the people crowding to get to the highest point. We looked in the small museum and gift shops then waited for our return train. Back down the same steep cog track. The Mt Washington Hotel lay in the distance among the yellows and reds. Back down to the base after an exhilarating ride through fantastic scenery!

We drove down the road to the Mt W Hotel and Resort and went in for a light lunch in the sumptuous hotel. A great meal looking out over the golf course and the cog railway trace up the mountain. Headed north on the 302 and connected with the 3 and then the 115 to the 2 and made it to Gilead, Manie, where we turned south along the border. This was a road-less-travel route back down to North Conway and the hotel. Wrote this up and had dinner in the room of the leftovers from the Indian meal we’d had two nights ago. Great day!Read more