Steam Meets Steam in the White Mountains. Mt. Washington Cog Railway trains regularly pass each other in two places on the line. The first is at the Waumbek Tank at 3800 MSL. The second place is here, at the Skyline Switch at 5600 MSL. Trains descending from the summit cross the switch and enter the stub siding, as #9 and its orange coach have done here. This allows the ascending train, in this case #2 with the lavender coach, to continue its climb to the summit. The switch here is the only one left on the line that is entirely manual. It has 9 moving parts and requires great care on the part of the line's Brakemen to ensure that is properly set. The crewmen seen in this photo are in the process of throwing that switch to allow #9's train to leave the siding.
