Cog Railway looking to go electric

[KRooney]

There's an article in today's Manchester Union Leader about the Cog Railroad's plan to replace its trains with battery-powered engines. They hope to have a prototype ready this year but say that may be optimistic. They estimate the trains will run about 4.76 mph. Years ago you took your life - and surely your lungs! - in your hands to go up Jewell first thing in the morning as the smoke from the engines idling and building up pressure would nearly choke you! Bio-diesels were a big improvement and this latest change seems inevitable.

 

[Ear Drum]

There's an article in today's Manchester Union Leader about the Cog Railroad's plan to replace its trains with battery-powered engines. They hope to have a prototype ready this year but say that may be optimistic. They estimate the trains will run about 4.76 mph. Years ago you took your life - and surely your lungs! - in your hands to go up Jewell first thing in the morning as the smoke from the engines idling and building up pressure would nearly choke you! Bio-diesels were a big improvement and this latest change seems inevitable.

I wonder if they'll keep the two coal-fired steam engines running, for nostalgia's sake? And I suppose a diesel engine itself might become something that could be kept running as a quaint historical artifact.

 

[Ear Drum]

I found an article from late December about the proposed electric trains, but it was paywalled. So, I googled the text of the photo caption, which I could read for free. It had the names of the chief mechanical engineer for the Cog, Caleb Gross, as well as two UNH interns working there.

Among the search results was this 3-minute video from UNH Engineering about the interns, with scenes of the machine shop and trains. Pretty interesting if you like this sort of stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llIsZzh0Fkc

Behind the Scenes with the Engineers of the Mount Washington Cog Railway​

Sep 19, 2024
3,612 views • Sep 19, 2024
UNH Engineering interns Will Callery ’25 and Tatum Vansicklen ’25 gained practical experience and got an up-close look at the inner workings of the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the world’s first mountain climbing cog railway. They were able to work in a hands-on environment and performed a diverse variety of tasks at the site where all of the cog railway’s locomotives are designed, built and maintained, honing skills that will set them up for success as they venture out into their careers.

 

[Ear Drum]

Here's the link to the Union Leader - it's free to read:

https://www.unionleader.com/news/hu...cle_8e52020a-4e2e-518b-97d9-1837abb3e1d0.html

Good article. The proposed vehicle will be designed to get to the summit in 15 minutes, carrying materials or a few people (not pushing a carriage of passengers - yet). For use by SAR too.