Crossing the Pemigewasset. White Mountain Central Baldwin #5 emerges from the Howe Truss Covered Bridge spanning the Pemigewasset River with the 1:30 PM "Railroad Days" passenger excursion, heading up the hill into "Wolfman Territory." This 2-4-2T saddle tanker was built by the Burham Williams Company (later part of the Baldwin Locomotive Works) in 1906. She served the East Branch & Lincoln in New Hampshire's White Mountains as a logging engine for roughly 60 years before becoming a static display at the Loon Mountain Ski Area. In 1999, the folks at Clark's acquired this engine and restored it to operating condition. It now runs on special occasions, such as the WMCRR's annual "Railroad Days" event depicted here.
Those familiar with operations at Clark's trading post will quickly note the odd positioning of the engine on the head end of the train in this photo, as WMCRR Locomotives typically push their trains up the hill from behind for safety reasons. In this case, there was indeed a pusher engine on the back end of the consist, in the form of Climax #6. This two-engine train was a special operation for the 2014 "Railroad Days" event, and the locomotives were positioned on the front and back ends of the consist to separate them because of a weight restriction on the wooden covered bridge. Had the engines both been positioned as pushers, the train would have had to stop and cut off the pusher, before crossing the bridge, and then stop again to reconnect the helper on the other side.
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.
