Welcome to the Base Station of the World’s First Employee Database of the World’s First Mountain Climbing Railroad


A railroad 156 years old with perhaps as many as 10,000 employees in those years. This basic academic research website is not affiliated with the railroad. It is designed to collect and collate names of the women and men who worked on the Mt. Washington Railway and its companion organizations (Summit house, Base Station, Marshfield) from 1866 forward, to bring the railroad's history into a single repository for generations of the extended "Cog family" and others to enjoy, reminisce, peruse and connect.

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The "Sunset Special" was the last train up the mountain. The Jitney Years project continues to prepare for a last train up the mountain before a final print-out of the manuscripts. This is a "last boarding call" for any information that should be included. Roster Updates are in the Pipeline! Contact Jitney Jr directly [jitneyjr@jitneyyears.org] (preferred) with any additions or corrections ASAP OR use the…

Interactive Online Database

Online Database

Over 3,180 names of Coggers from 1866 forward – pictures and profiles where possible. Help us identify Cog workers missing from the list. Just like Sylvester Marsh, we’ve invested enough in the database to demonstrate the “proof of concept” – Seats on this first data-train are limited – If you have to wait a bit to ride, check out the PDF versions of the Jitney Years manuscript below…

Coggers of Mt. Washington, NH Interactive Online Database Tool

Mt. Washington Cog Railways
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Jitney Years Project Manuscripts

Descriptions of Manuscripts

Jitney's Operating Manual

Learn how to safely operate a Cog Railway train in the 1950-1967 era. Check out the Cogger profile updates from the Cog Clatter newspaper (1966-1967). Get the history of Cog Railway worksite locations AND find notes from the Shop Repair Logs. Cog Documents from NH state archives & Maps of Various railway building configurations are now contained in a stand-alone Vol. 5 Documents & Maps download.

Vol. 1 Operating Manual SE - 755 pgs / 329 MB / June 2025
Vol. 5 Documents & Maps SE v2 - 810 pgs / 203 MB / June 2025

Mt. Washington Cog Railways
Mt. Washington Cog Railways

Employee Roster

A reorganized & updated alphabetical listing of Cog employees from 1866 forward with profiles & images when possible. More names and stories being added as they are discovered/submitted - See Online Database Above.

Vol. 2A Roster SE - A to I - 714 pgs / 332 MB / June 2025
Vol. 2B Roster SE v1 - J to Z - 579 pgs / 208 MB / Mar 2023
Vol. 2C Roster Addendum - In Process

Aggregated Timeline

A collection of Cog specific newspaper articles. Follow the day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of the World’s first Mountain-Climbing Railroad as told by reporters working during the 10 ownership eras - collated, transcribed and edited by Jitney Jr.

Vol. 3A Timeline SE - 1866-1967 - 918 pgs / 345 MB
Vol. 3B Timeline SE - 1968-2024 - 948 pgs / 438 MB
Vol. 3C Timeline - 2025 to present - 55 pgs / 27 MB

Mt. Washington Cog Railways
Mt. Washington Cog Railways

Jitney Years Appendix

Originally part of the Operating Manual, the Appendix now stands alone with new takes on usual Cog Railway topics like Peppersass & the Devil’s Shingle. Learn more about “other” Cog Railways, the “first” diesel loco proposal, struggles at the Summit (both natural & political), and members of the Cog family as artists, storytellers & serving their country - some as leaders - some as spies (?) as well as some inter-family squabbles.

Vol. 4 Appendix SE v4 - 966 pgs / 237 MB