Welcome to the top of New England! The shadows are getting long and there's only perhaps 30 minutes of daylight left as passengers alight from their Cog Railway train on the "roof of New England", the summit of Mt. Washington. The crew of the locomotive is already on the ground with the ball-peen hammer and the grease gun, tap-testing and greasing all of the moving parts. The parking location for the locomotive looks precarious, but the crew assures me that the ratchet is in place and it's not going anywhere. In recent years, the platform up here has been substantially rebuilt. It now has two, long, parallel tracks, enabling multiple trains to arrive and park simultaneously. A hydraulically-actuated, transfer-table-style switch, just out of view on the left, switches trains between the two tracks. Diesel trains typically discharge passengers, pick up new load of folks who have finished their visit, and then immediately head down the mountain. Steamers typically park here, and wait as their passengers enjoy their time on the summit.
This image was captured on the observation deck of the Sherman Adams Summit Building, home of the famous Mt. Washington Weather Observatory. Speaking of the weather, the conditions in this photo are about as nice as it ever gets up here. The temperature is in the low 60s and the wind is about 5 knots. It's a perfect evening to enjoy the incredible views.....just keep that sweater or jacket handy, for as the sun takes a plunge, so will the temperature!
