#18 Mount Washington Cog Railway

1869

World's first cog railway

Mount Washington, rising 6,288 feet above sea level in the mountainous north country of New Hampshire, is the highest peak in the Northeast. The world's first cog railway ascends almost 3,600 feet along a western spur of the mountain between Burt and Ammonoosuc Ravines from the Marshfield Base Station. Specially built steam locomotives, beginning with the Peppersass, drove toothed wheels into a ladder-like between-rails rack bolted to the cross ties of a three-mile trestle. Civil-mechanical engineer Sylvester Marsh conceived and executed this railway, including a ratchet safety cog with gear reduction, braking mechanism, and related patents.