going to the top

Tomorrow, Ed and I will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. I wanted to do something special for this, and so decided to do something that we have always talked about but never have.  Go to the top of Mt. Washington.....

But not just go in any way... we wanted to go up on the train.. the "cog train" and we wanted to ride in the steam engine.. so a couple of weeks ago I made the reservations....

They have a few trains that run, but only one is the steamer.. the others are diesel. And while they all go to the top, the steamer only runs once a day. It's slower, but it's also more original that is what we wanted. We had to be up very early in the morning to go, but it was worth it...

It's hard to tell from this photo.. but that peak way up in the background is where we are heading...

The grade is so steep, that it appears the trees grow crocked.. when actually they are growing straight. It certainly is an optical allusion for sure

Because the steam engine runs on steam.. they have to stop for water along the route.... and there is three that run the train.. the engineer... the brakeman and the fire man... (who is the lucky one that gets to shovel the coal into the fire box)

Smoke and cinders pass by the train as it chugs it's way up to the top. 

The view is amazing, but as we got closer to the top, there was a huge change the weather. I had been warned to dress warmly for the top even in the warmest of summer days, and I soon began to think I was wise to heed those words...

At times, it seemed as though we were going to fall off the mountain...

But we made it and this sign welcomed us...

along with this weather.. and the wind!!!! It almost made it hard to even walk around the summit. I'm told you can see for miles, and on a very clear day.. even see the ocean... however, this wasn't going to be the day to see the ocean...

I could hardly see Ed.....

or the others that had come to visit. It was actually quite busy with hikers and travelers like us... no one seemed to mind the weather.. and there were lots of folks out walking about...

I asked a nice young man to get out photo.... our anniversary photo.... 

There is a working post office at the top.. with their own post mark.. so we bought some cards and sent them off to the grands.... and one to ourselves marking this day...


we're certainly going to have to bring the grands here one day.

While they have a nice modern lodge .. they have kept and restored some of the original buildings... the Tip Top house is one... I don't recall what year it was built...but its been here for along time..

One thing I noticed right away was how quiet it was inside.. as the wind was howling outside. Then I noticed at how thick the walls were... I should imagine that it must be a pretty cozy place when the weather is really bad on the mountain top..

They had this neat photo of it all covered in ice and snow.. and though it's hard to see, there are great big cables that actually help keep it on the ground..

The train works on a cog.. much like the way a bike goes on its chain.. the teeth of the cog step into spaces on a rail that is between the tracks. I am in awe of how this was thought up and invented...

The engine pushes the train car up the mountain, but going down, the train car actually goes on its own and uses the engine more as a brake. However, the brake man (who was a break gal today).. really is in charge of applying brakes (using the wheel) to keep the train car of racing down the side of the mountain. She was fun to watch and I noticed she didn't do a lot of taling and visiting on the ride down.. she was truly working... 

As we got closer to the bottom.. the weather improved... hard to think that at the bottom it was nearly 80 and only about 41 degrees at the top...

The other trains were running that day... we were just behind this one...

and passed by this one...

We took some time and walked threw the museum.. this is called a "devils shingle".. and they actually rode down it on the rails....

This is all there is to it.... I can't even imagine doing that... especially since I had just gone up on a train and parts of the ride made me look the other way.... 

We closed the day with a nice lunch out and poking around some of the shops... leaving the mountain to the others and the weather.. and promising that we will go back again very soon..