Railway above the clouds. About 30 minutes before sunset, Mt. Washington Railway Company Locomotive #2, "Ammonoosuc" and her cherry red coach emerge from a brightly lit undercast as they begin to transit what's known as "The Homestretch", or the last half mile to the summit of New England's highest peak. Sometimes known as the Homestretch "Flats", this section of track is hardly flat, but the grades are far less than the 25% average on this line. Normally, it is quite windy here as this area of the mountain is well above tree line and almost completely exposed to the west and northwest. The combination of that exposure and the steep terrain immediately behind the train's location creates a sort of Venturi effect, which compresses and accelerates the westerly wind, meaning the winds at the surface here will be stronger than the wind at the same altitude away from the mountain. Fortunately, on this day, the winds are perhaps 20 mph, which is a pretty nice day on the "rockpile." The undercast you see is pretty common here on Mt. Washington. It is one of the few weather stations in the world that reports cloud layers both above and BELOW the station location. While it was cloudy and gray down at Marshfield Station, over 3,000 ft. below this elevation, the cloud layer was only a few hundred feet thick, so the summit has been nice pretty much all day.
The train you see is the "D" Section of the 4 PM train....the very last train of the day to the top. It will take another 10-12 minutes to reach the summit, and at that point, the 2-track platform will be crowded with 3 diesel-powered trains and the single steamer. The diesels will then depart for the base, carrying passengers from the 3 PM trains. The steamer will remain, however. Another set of 3 diesel-powered trains is already leaving the base station empty, dead-heading to the summit to retrieve the folks who arrived at 4PM. Just after sunset, all remaining trains will begin their descents. When they arrive back at Marshfield Station, it will be pretty dark.
Beautiful mountain scenery has made this small state a draw for rail buffs to ride the Mount Washington Cog Railway and the Conway Scenic, among others.
