Mt. Washington Cog Railway Goes Electric! – CleanTechnica

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“The Second Greatest Show on Earth!” That’s what showman PT Barnum proclaimed in 1869 as he stepped down off the world’s first mountain-climbing railroad and marveled at the view from Mount Washington’s rocky summit. First put into service in 1869, the Mount Washington Cog Railway has offered decades of tourists a dramatic ascent toward the highest peak in the Northeast.

The Cog Railway’s 155th anniversary party last month had another element: while preserving history, Mt. Washington is also highlighting ongoing innovation. Engineering students from the University of New Hampshire are working alongside the Mt. Washington rail staff to develop an all-electric locomotive, with help from robotic welding systems.

It will be the world’s first entirely battery-powered mountain-climbing electric vehicle.

As I write this article in the early morning, the winds at the summit of Mt. Washington are blowing at 37 mph with gusts up to nearly 60 mph. The temperature is -18 degrees F with wind chill at -52 degrees F. The Sherman Adams building, where the Mt. Washington Observatory is housed, is ready to withstand winds up to 300 mph.

Visually the most impressive peak east of the Mississippi, the Mt. Washington summit is in the clouds 60% of the year. Some days are enveloped in poor visibility and shifting fog. Others provide glorious sun and views into five states – New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York – even into Canada. Visitors are at the whim of the weather.

Luckily, in season there are a couple of great ways to reach the top of Mount Washington and to take in the breathtaking views of the surrounding White Mountains. For an exciting trip, hop aboard the Cog Railway, one of the leading attractions in New Hampshire. You may see groups of hikers resting near the tracks as The Cog nears the crossing of the Appalachian Mountain trail.

Powering the Cog Railway

Today, significant accessibility to Mt. Washington is found in its trains, which allow conductors to highlight the grandeur of the mountain, its vistas, and the outlying regions — albeit with the dense smoke of fossil fuels a constant.

The electric multipurpose vehicle (EMPV) represents the third evolution of The Cog’s mountain-climbing capabilities, beginning with the ascent of the Peppersass locomotive 156 years ago and the conversion to biodiesel fuel in 2008.

The EMPV is being designed and will be built in-house at The Cog under the leadership of Caleb Gross, the railway’s chief mechanical engineer, as reported by John Kosiol of the Union Ledger. The EMPV will be a successor to two speeder vehicles that The Cog previously used to maintain the 14,800 feet of track from the Base Station to the top of Mount Washington. It will be fast enough to get to the summit in under 15 minutes, with the ability to carry 9,000 pounds GVW in addition to a payload of half that amount.

The climb has an average grade of 25%, with some sections approach nearly 38%. A Cog locomotive travels at 4.76 mph, while the EMPV could go nearly 13 mph.

Gross outlined the eventual goal is to apply the EMPV’s technology into The Cog’s entire fleet of two coal- and seven biodiesel-fueled locomotives. In addition to serving as a workhorse and rescue vehicle, Gross said the EMPV could also carry commercial passengers, as its modular superstructure can be fitted out quickly to meet the needs of the moment.

The type of battery to power the EMPV is still being researched. “Technically, it’s zero emissions,” Gross noted, as the EMPV that will charge its batteries during every descent.

The vehicle will be “rescue proof,” he added, as it can return down the mountain even without its electric-vehicle components engaged. It will be outfitted with numerous, redundant safety systems. The Cog also has several six-wheeled ATVs to move personnel and material up the mountain for work or hiker-rescue missions.

Wayne Presby, current owner and operator, bought the Cog Railway back in 1983 when he was just 26. “To have the opportunity to operate something that is so unique and that is such a vital part of New Hampshire tourism, and such an iconic attraction, was an incredible gift,” Presby told NHPR.

Presby feels that electric vehicles are the future, so it makes sense that the railway is gradually making that inevitable conversion.

A working weather and research station is at the Mount Washington State Park in the Sherman Adams Visitor Center at the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Summitting Mt. Washington

When I was young and foolish, I talked a gal friend into hiking Mount Washington over Memorial Day Weekend. We tried to notify a ranger’s station at the bottom that we would be on the mountain, but they were closed. Undeterred, we plodded along, one foot in front of the other, grasping at cracks in granite to pull ourselves up inclines. Slowly, we made it into the clouds, where we learned that conditions at the top can be quite a bit different than those at the base station.

An icy rain began to fall. Using our trail map, we detoured to an Appalachian Mountain Hut. Soaked to the skin, shivering, probably in real trouble, we pounded on the door. Finally, someone from within answered, saying that the hut wasn’t yet opened for the season, and they couldn’t let us in. Under the outside rafters, my friend and I sorted through our backpacks and switched into some dry clothes.

We basically slid back down the side on our butts as rain rivulets froze into solid ice streams across our path. Now in the infinite wisdom of age, I realize it’s definitely not a hike upon which the casual day trip hiker should embark. Today I would absolutely reach the peak by the Mt. Washington Cog Railway.

As the train approaches the summit, a white marker is perched on a pile of boulders on the right. As the story goes, young Lizzie Bourne is memorialized here as the first woman in recorded history to have perished on the summit. She was forced to retreat from the elements at this location during a devastating storm. Because of thick fog and driving rain and snow, her hiking party had no way of knowing that they were so close to shelter at the summit.

The historic Tip Top House is a bunker-like structure, the core of which is the original summit hotel dating back to 1853. It’s the same building that sheltered Sylvester Marsh and his pastor during a life threatening storm in 1857, and it’s where he envisioned the future Cog Railway. Now a museum, it is referred to as the oldest existing mountain top hostelry in the world. Trains lay over at the summit for approximately one hour, allowing time to explore the State Park’s Sherman Adams Visitor Center and its rooftop observation deck, an interactive weather exhibit titled “Extreme Mount Washington,” a cafeteria, and two gift shops.

Sending a shout-out to Alert Reader Dan Allard for making us at CleanTechnica aware of this fun story.