My girlfriend and I are going to the cog railway around the middle of Aug. Looking for reasonable price accommodations. We are 70 and non smokers. We don't require a huge room. Clean, decent, shower, double bed, maybe wireless. We eat out. Maybe only one and at most two nights. We have AARP and AAA cards also.
I have looked at the cog site and see the steamer runs at 9am which is what we want. Would it be advisable to order the ride tickets online? We plan to be there during the week, not the weekend. Yes, we will bring jackets for the ride.
Maybe get in some hiking also.
I am hoping to find someone who has been there recently. I am searching Google for Conway also as we would like to take that in also.
Thanks.
Rich
The Notchland Inn is right next to the Conway Scenic line in that area. Good food, good rooms, good location.
Since diesels are replacing the old steamers, it would be smart to get tickets in advance. I don't know if Mt Washington offers "reservations" but having tickets should put you closer to the front of the line. I forget how large the coaches are. With a big crowd, you may have to wait for the next train. Enjoy your trip! Mt Washington does a good job providing service. Bring a camera! We want to see pictures.
Yes, if you want a steam trip get there for the 9am departure. I believe tickets for this trip are more expensive than those behind, or in this case, in front of the diesels.
It can get very cold up Mt Washington, even in August, take plenty of layers!
We went up the cog about 15 years ago, and reasonable price accommodation was easier to find around the N Conway and I93? corridor, but just be careful of driving fast in the early morning. Have seen bears, moose and fishers? on the road.
Enjoy your trip,
Terry2foot
Bears as in the animals or as in the cops? Or both?
Leaving shortly for NH. Have warm clothes also. Plenty of camera media and batteries.
Someone in another forum made me aware of the below site which is not too far from Conway.
http://hartmannrr.com/
Rich
Have a safe and enjoyable trip! :D
Robert
Bring warm clothes if you plan on spending any time at the top. we went a few years ago & when the brakeman left the train to add water he put on a jacket. The next stop was to switch to a siding to let a descending train pass & he put on a jacket & hat. The last stop before reaching the top required a heavy coat, hat & gloves.....He was there before.
Yes enjoy the trip and hope you get the steam engine. Someone posted a video and it really looked amazing to watch in action.
Had a great trip. THREE CLEAR DAYS at Mt Washington. Amazing.
Offensive part of message removed.
Rich
Discussion removed
Rich
rich-
The biodiesels are certainly cleaner than a steam engine, at least from the standpoint of soot and visible smoke. However, what it's called notwithstanding, biodiesels burn a hydrocarbon and consequently pump lots of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Maybe this is just one of my pet peeves but I get perturbed by the implication that energy is clean as long as it isn't petroleum-, gas- or coal-based. The fact is, anything which oxidizes hydrocarbons, even a campfire burning deadfall, pollutes. And electricity isn't much better, except for an efficiency factor, because most of it is produced by burning hydrocarbons. Basically, unless it is nuclear, solar, hydro, tidal or wind it produces vast quantities of CO2. Why, we animals even discharge CO2 because we burn hydrocarbons. (But we call it bread or sugar or meat or dairy or, God save us all, even fruits and vegetables.)
-- D
Some videos. Yes, the train shook quite a lot.
The XXX diesel was a lot quieter ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsCnhT9i7xQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=538xGmcPC84
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAx0p06Yc8
Not the best but the camera is primarily for still photos.
Rich
rich-
Upon reflection I am concerned that my rant last evening might be taken as an insult to you. Nothing could be further from the truth; it was simply an expression of my frustration with some of the "green" information in the world. I apologize if it sounded personal. It most certainly wasn't intended that way.
-- D
Rich .......
I hope you and your young lady had a great time. I'm also in my mid-70's, living in the West now, and last rode the Mt. Washington Cog Railway about 60 years ago. I still remember the whole trip vividly and fondly.
Diesels? Oh, the price pf progress! Old Peppersass was the only way to go, with that funny tilted boiler.
Incidentally, does anyone -- anyone! -- know where one can find HO, HOn or even N scale locos for such a cog railway????? I would love to build one just for fun. A real cog drive would probably be necessary to achieve the 10% and 15% grades. An alternative might be a cable-car arrangement, with a string below the surface. Any thoughts from anyone who's done it???
Railsider
Hi railsider
Probably be really difficult to find a steam loco. The steamer has four small cylinders. Would be a real challenge to scratch build.
Maybe a box cab to simulate the diesel. No doubt at HO scale you would need a string under the layout with a stiff thin wire up through a slot next the the "cog".
A plastic loco would be really light.
The max angle at Jacobs Ladder is 37.41 degrees.
My girlfriend and I stood at the rear of the car and we could feet the heat from the loco.
To keep steam up, the fireman has to maintain a volcano like fire.
The passing siding now has two hydraulic turnouts powered by solar cells.
The turnout near the top still is the nine step manual process. This one is for the stub end siding near the top.
A diesel starts first, unloads, backs down to the siding, the steamer comes up behind and stops at the top for nearly an hour. Another diesel comes up and unloads. It then picks up the first batch of people and starts down.
Meantime a third diesel has started up the mountain and they meet at the passing siding.
A lot of coordination is needed to get max people up and down.
I can send you email with photos and videos if interested.
I found the diesels interesting. They are much easier to operate and much more efficient than the steamer. Each day there is one steamer and three diesels operating.
The photo in the below link will give people a good idea of what it is like at this angle.
http://www.steamphotos.com/Railroad-Photos/Mount-Washington-Cog-Railway/5279674_SHPwX#321634982_W2n94
There are a lot of Mt Washington links on the 'Net and loads of You Tube videos that are a lot better than mine which include the new diesels.
Rich
I have not found a video of the brakeman in action when on the way down.
Normally, the loco is not connected to the car. It just pushes against a plate on the end of the car.
At the top, I did notice a piece of chain connecting the loco and car. Since the car was right at the top on level track, the loco had to pull the car a short way until gravity took over. The loco stopped, the fireman disconnected the chain and we were on our way down. You have to remember, gravity is not a good idea, it is the law.
The loco is not holding the car back until near the bottom. The brakeman is constantly busy and there is a lot of vibration as we travel down faster that going up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XxdEhf-Ir0
Rich
Some random links on the subject of cog or rack railroads in HO scale:
http://www.morop.eu/en/normes/nem121_e.pdf
http://books.google.com/books?id=i98DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA190&lpg=PA190&dq=ho+cog+railroad+equipment&source=bl&ots=L_lcnYQhTr&sig=JyKa7tW8_XhJQ7hXZABZWUc8P80&hl=en&ei=ZEyZTKrsOYS8lQfEr_VT&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=ho%20cog%20railroad%20equipment&f=false
LGB offers equipment and rack in large scale:
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=lgb+rack+railway&aq=f&aqi=g3g-m2&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=8ce9e1c25799f52d
http://www.trainweb.org/jlsrr/product-reviews/brunig/brunig.htm
Here is a video clip from the famous Minatur Wunderland exhibit in Germany, featuring what would be a "rack and adhesion" line. They had to get that equipment from somewhere. . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwTRW3fIlgA&feature=channel
I'll look some more, there should be something out there. . .
A little more looking:
http://www.eurorailhobbies.com/erh_detail.asp?mn=5&ca=1&sc=HO&stock=FL-403401
Try not to have a heart attack at some of the prices; looks like a lot more used to be available than is currently around.
http://www.reynaulds.com/search.aspx?term=rack&submit=Search
http://www.roco.com/products/Fleischmann/403401.aspx
http://www.roco.com/products/Fleischmann/6411.aspx
http://www.roco.com/products/Fleischmann/6412.aspx
http://www.roco.com/index.aspx
Good luck on this one:
http://www.fleischmann.de/
That's about as good as I can do; hope it helps.
This came up at Railway Preservation News recently, and I thought some here might be interested:
http://server.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30204
Direct link to the RyPN subject matter in the above post:
http://www.archive.org/details/brake_free_1970
Enjoy!
Ok, drifting off topic a tad.
Not a railroad but it runs on two tracks. Girlfriend sat in front of me on this little four wheel car.
Hey, you got to have fun when you get to geezerhood, the oppostie of childhood.
Look at You Tube for mountain coaster.
http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=325&linkid=2988
Rich
rich-
Oh, yeah. These are a ton of fun. Just don't run into a moose.
-- D