A wonderful day - seeing the fall colors change -
Then - experiencing what is supposed to be "The Worst Weather in the World"
The 'Silver Cascade" has a lot of water since we got a good amount of rain last night.
One of the most luxurious summer resorts, built in 1902,
designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986
The Mount Washington Cog Railway
The engine is straight, but the mountain is crooked!
The average grade to get to the summit is 35%
The steam engine uses 1 ton of coal and 1000 gallons of water to make one trip to the summit.
(about 3500 feet elevation)
That is a gain of about 1000 feet per mile!
Since the steam engine only carried 750 gallons of water, they had to add water half way up.
Our group filled this car going up the 3 1/2 miles to the summit
This is the first third of the journey at a grade of 35%
Weather turns rapidly
At the top, there is so much fog that you can barely see the cairns (for the hikers) and the alpine tundra (much like the terrain much further north)
Before the railway, there was an auto road and a Stanley Steamer came up here from Boston.
That took several days!
When we arrived at the top the weather was FREEZING!!
After we reached the summit, we learned that the average number of days of a heavy fog is 300.
On a clear day you can see 100 miles and even see the outline of buildings
in
New York city.
Back to pretty weather!
