CalendarZ

    • English English
    • español español
    • français français
    • português português
    • русский русский
    • العربية العربية
    • 简体中文 简体中文
  • Home
  • Religious Holidays
  • National Holidays
  • Other Days
  • On This Day
  • Tools
    • Date converter
    • Age Calculator
  1. Home
  2. On This Day
  3. August
  4. 29
  5. Mount Washington Cog Railway

Events on August 29 in history

Mount Washington Cog Railway
1869Aug, 29

The Mount Washington Cog Railway opens, making it the world's first mountain-climbing rack railway.

The Mount Washington Cog Railway, also known as the Cog, is the world's first mountain-climbing cog railway (rack-and-pinion railway). The railway is still in operation, climbing Mount Washington in New Hampshire, United States. It uses a Marsh rack system and both steam and biodiesel-powered locomotives to carry tourists to the top of the mountain. Its track is built to a 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) gauge, which is technically a narrow gauge, as it is 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) less than a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge.

It is the second steepest rack railway in the world after the Pilatus Railway in Switzerland, with an average grade of over 25% and a maximum grade of 37%. The railway is approximately 3 miles (5 km) long and ascends Mount Washington's western slope, beginning at an elevation of approximately 2,700 feet (820 m) above sea level and ending just short of the mountain's summit peak of 6,288 feet (1,917 m). The train ascends the mountain at 2.8 miles per hour (4.5 km/h) and descends at 4.6 mph (7.4 km/h). Steam locomotives take approximately 65 minutes to ascend and 40 minutes to descend, while the biodiesel engines can go up in as little as 36 minutes.

Most of the Mount Washington Cog Railway is in Thompson and Meserve's Purchase, with the part of the railway nearest to Mount Washington's summit being in Sargent's Purchase.

References

  • Mount Washington Cog Railway
  • Rack railway

Choose Another Date

Events on 1869

  • 6Mar

    Periodic table

    Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.
  • 28Apr

    First Transcontinental Railroad

    Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the First Transcontinental Railroad lay ten miles of track in one day, a feat which has never been matched.
  • 15May

    Susan B. Anthony

    Women's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
  • 17Nov

    Suez Canal

    In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.
  • 22Nov

    Clipper

    In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched and is one of the last clippers ever built, and the only one still surviving today.

About CalendarZ

CalendarZ

In addition of showing the dates of significant holidays and events; CalendarZ enables you easily check out the time remaining to a certain date and all other details.

Our Partners

WoWDeals : All Deals in One Place

Quick Navigation

  • Home
  • Upcoming Holidays
  • Religious Holidays
  • National Holidays
  • Other Days
  • Blog
  • Age Calculator
  • On This Day

© 2025 CalendarZ. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us / Privacy Policy

English   |   español   |   français   |   português   |   русский   |   العربية   |   简体中文