science · 29 August 1866 · 158 years ago
In 1866, a public demonstration was given of the first cog railway in the world to show the first half-mile of track at the base of Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast U.S. The Mount Washington Cog Railway eventually ran to the summit of Mount Washington, N.H. giving views of four states, Canada, and the Atlantic Ocean. Invented by Sylvester Marsh of Littleton, N.H., work began on the railway in May 1866 and finished in July 1869 at a cost of $139,500. In 1869, the Cog Railway was an engineering marvel, a new technology of toothed cog gears, rack rails and tilted boilers. A third toothed rail was laid between the steel rails for the wheels. In the present day, it remains in use, the only cog railway still powered by steam.
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