The Mount Washington Cog Railway

8am start from hotel to Mount Washington to catch the 10am train up to the summit (maximum speed 5mph). Felt a lot better after a fairly good night’s sleep. A word about the group… 19 Yanks and 17 Brits. Quite hilarious at times with the opening gambit always being “Where are you from?” They hail from Washington State, Florida, Texas, New Orleans to name but a few. For some it is an adventure to be on the East coast. Interesting conversations every day.
Back to the cog railway…. an engineering miracle of the 1850s patronised initially by the rich of the Gilded Age who came to holiday at such places as the Mount Washington Hotel Resort, where we stopped to photograph on the way. This hotel is famous for hosting the meeting that led to the inauguration of the World Bank (International Monetary Fund). It was an hour to get up to the summit, freezing cold at the top, an hour up there (I sent myself a postcard home) then an hour to come down. The “Brakeman”, Terry, told us all the history and how the weather is the “worst in the world” but that today was a good day considering.
We stopped at North Woodstock on the way back for lunch -a pretty little town with a dog pet shop and dog cafe and ice cream place 😳
4 stops on the return to the hotel, along the Kancamagus Scenic Railway, for photo opportunities, to visit the Albany covered bridge and the picturesque river rapids which is more picturesque when there is enough water there to rush across the rocks but due to the good summer the water level was low unfortunately.
Went to the local supermarket to buy a few drinks and a salad for “dinner” as the local restaurants are not the greatest……Read more