One of the more interesting aspects of the Cog Railway's history was its interchange with the Boston & Maine. After its construction, the only public transportation to the Base Station was via stage coach, which was slow and inefficient. Bringing passengers to The Cog by rail was the key to a successful business.
From the late 1890s to about 1931, The Cog was actually operated by the B&M. In 1876 a branch line from the then Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad was built from Fabyans (essentially where the Conway Scenic's present-day track is) all the way to the Base Station at The Cog. If you've ever driven the base road to the Cog Railway, it more or less ran near that route. Knowing how steep that is, it is difficult to believe that rod engines could make that trip, but they regularly did. It is my understanding that wood-burning....and later, coal-burning 2-6-0s and 4-4-0s would shove trains in reverse, up that grade. Both passengers and freight (such as coal) were brought in this way. I found links to a few photos from back in the day. There was actually a transfer station, located about where the present-day shops are, where passengers would transfer from the standard-gauge B&M branch line trains, to the cog trains, for the trip to the summit.
In the beginning, this transfer station was nothing but a platform:
Early B&M Transfer Station
Later on, they clearly built a much more formal arrangement:
Transfer Station circa 1910
The branch line was abandoned in 1931, once automobiles were common and roads were better. I'm told that traces of this line can still be found in the woods, including remains of some wooden trestles. When you look at these photos, it is hard to believe that stuff was there.....and has been gone for nearly 90 years.
/Kevin Madore
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2020 12:05PM by KevinM.
