Having been invented here, why weren't there more cog railways built in the United States? [I cannot think of more than just the two: Pikes Peak and Mt. Washington.]

Was it that tourism and railroads developed differently in America as compared to Europe?
Or was it simply that the adhesion railroads provided all the high-altitude thrills and scenery the tourist wanted?

Since cog or rack railways in Europe (particularly in Switzerland) are not always strictly tourist lines (that is, they can be part of a through-route whose destination is not a mountain top), then perhaps American engineering practices of using narrow gauge, switchbacks, loops, etc. avoided the use of cog technology.

Your thoughts?

A case in point: Why wasn't the Mt. Tamalpais tourist line built as a cog railway, for example?

denmeg_hogan@msn.com

Simply put, Dennis, buying some shays, heislers, ect., off the shelf, so to speak, and running them over regular railways was MUCH cheaper than the engineering and upkeep for a rack system. Plus, there was a ready market for any surplus equipment when the project was done; remember, many of the European cog railways had govt. patronage, US management had to look at what to do with stuff if a project went south(Banking houses tendto loan money for stuff that can be resold.

Hi Dennis,

This doesn't answer you question, but there was a third steam powered cog operation that ran 1.1 miles from a steamboat landing to the top of what is now Cadillac Mountain on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. "Trains" magazine had a good article on this line several decades ago. The two locomotives from this operations were sold to the Mt. Washington Cog where they still operate as their numbers 3 and 4.

Best Regards,
Glenn

christenseng@altavista.com

This cog railway near Bar Harbor, according to "The Best Of Maine Railroads" book ran from 1883 to 1890, and was mentioned, equipment went to Mt. Washinton. It ceased operating because people had to boat across Eagle Lake (one of at least three Eagle Lakes in Maine) to reach the base station which was literally a handfull of foot steps from the lake. The gauge was 4 feet 7.5".

Land ownership may have been a reason why it wasn't built from the north closer to the town of Bar Harbor and not a carriage and a boat ride to gain access.

Boston and Maine RR dropped you off at the M.W. Cog station around the start of the 1900's when they owned it. A train ride form the maine line to the base station would have been a good warm up for the cog ride to the summit. The rail line is shown on the on historic maps of New England from the "links" page here on rypn. I believe it's under the Mount Washington "town" heading and go from there.

Link for above mentioned map. The Branch line appears to be seamless with the Cog RR. I believe they meet near the end of the road likely to be the base station.

It's found under "Crawfords Puchase" in NH town heading.

http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm is the home page for the maps.


historic USGS map of B&M branchline to M.W.