"Old Soldiers Never Die......" In the words of an old British Army Song, "They just fade away." Such is the case with some of the retired steam locomotives on the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. For the first 140 years of its operation, steam ruled the rails on this line, with as many as 8 steam locomotives operational at a time. First, the #1, which was named for the mountain itself was retired, well over a decade ago. The railroad had no need for 8 locomotives. The #1 sat for years intact, but decaying behind the shops, It still sits there, behind the two locomotives pictured here. The next retirement happened in 2007, when #8, "Moosilauke" went down for a planned overhaul. In the middle of that project, the railroad made the decision to build an experimental diesel hydraulic instead, and the 8's overhaul was never completed. Instead, her cab and tender were pirated and used on the #4, "Chocorua", resulting in an odd-looking mongrel, which carried both the #4 and the #8, but its days were numbered.
The retirements began in earnest in 2009. That was the year that the railroad fully dieselized, with the construction of its 2nd and 3rd diesel locomotives. The #3, "Agiocochook", the #4 (which looked like the 8), and the #10, "Kro-Flite" all ran early in the season, but around the end of June, all were taken out of service. The engines were "stored serviceable" inside the engine shed, but they never ran again. The railroad actually tried to sell the #3 on eBay, but there were no takers at their price. The engine was basically useless to anyone except as a museum piece.
Records seem to indicate that the #6, "Kancamagus" continued to be held in reserve until 2010. It was used primarily for MOW duties, but it too was eventually retired. Since then, only the #2, "Ammonoosuc" and the #9, "Waumbek" have been maintained in operating condition, with the 9 running most of the time.
As the diesel fleet grew in size (now numbering 7 locomotives), the railroad gradually ran out of space in the engine shed for the retired steam engines. Two were chosen to become static displays and cosmetically restored for that purpose. The #4, back-dated to its original name "Summit" was placed with a coach next to the highway in the nearby town of Twin Mountain. Later, the #10, back-dated to its original name "Col. Teague", was placed at the entrance to the base road, near Fabian's Station. As the space continued to run out in the engine shed, the indoor housing options apparently ran out for the #3 and the #6. Both have now been parked sans tenders in the weeds out behind the shops, along with the #1 and a boiler hulk from the #8. Unlike the others, technically, the 6 could be made operational with some work, but that's extremely unlikely given the success of the diesels. It is not clear what the future holds for these "old soldiers". I keep hoping that the Smithsonian or perhaps The Henry Ford will eventually get at least one of them.
