Mt Washington motels

[richg1998]

My girlfriend and I are going to the cog railway around the middle of Aug. Looking for reasonable price accommodations. We are 70 and non smokers. We don't require a huge room. Clean, decent, shower, double bed, maybe wireless. We eat out. Maybe only one and at most two nights. We have AARP and AAA cards also.

I have looked at the cog site and see the steamer runs at 9am which is what we want. Would it be advisable to order the ride tickets online? We plan to be there during the week, not the weekend. Yes, we will bring jackets for the ride.

I am hoping to find someone who has been there recently. I am searching Google for Conway also as we would like to take that in also.

Thanks.

Rich

[TomDiehl]

Make sure it's a HEAVY jacket you take along. The temperature is likely to be in the 30's or low 40's up there, and it's always windy.

[tree68]

Include the Bartlett and North Conway areas in your search - there are a number of hotels/motels there and it's not far from Mt. Washington.

[richg1998]

Had a great trip. THREE CLEAR DAYS at Mt Washington. Amazing.
My girl friend and I stood at the rear of the passenger car on the way up. Most of the time we were leaning against the back. Max angle is around 37 degrees. Noisy with a lot  of vibration.
We were being pushed by the steam loco.
Each day, one steam loco and three bio-diesels were working the mountain.
Someone in another forum said the steamer runs only at 9am but we saw it running most of the day.

The steam loco uses 1 ton of coal and 1000 gals of water with a water stop part way up the mountain. I had one arm out the window of the car with the camera and coal particles were rapidly collecting on my arm. No clearance issues with this railroad.

The bio-diesel uses 15 to 18 gal of fuel with very little pollution.
The trip takes about three hours with almost an hour at the top. There was about a 12mph breeze with a temp of about 50 degrees.

The short trip we took at the Conway Scenic railroad was lame compared to this trip. The Conway Notch trip is better as the tracks are on the side of the cliff though the Notch. Did not have time for that trip.

Before we left today, we took a ride on a Zip Line at Bretton Woods. That is a "Trip" we will not forget.

Rich

[richg1998]

 Some videos, not to good as the camera is mostly for stills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsCnhT9i7xQ

The roar you hear is the diesel.

We road the steamer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=538xGmcPC84

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAx0p06Yc8

Rich

 

[millrace]

I'm probably too late in answering but last year my wife and I stayed at the Profile Deluxe Motel in Twin Mountain.  I highly recommend it.  It is an old fashioned motel, rooms are small, but it is very well maintained and clean.  It's very close to the cog and cheaper than most of the places in North Conway. The only real negative is there are not a lot of restaurant choices in the area, but the motel owners are very friendly and can point you to some decent places. They are also a wealth of knowledge of other activities in the area.

 I did the 9 am steam run last year (also in August) and I ordered the tickets in advance.  Turns out our train was only half full, but one never knows.

It also wasn't cold at the top but weather conditions in the White Mountains vary widely, prepare for the worst!

http://www.profiledeluxe.com/

[richg1998]

We stayed at  the Shakespeare's Inn which is on Rt 3 at Twin Mountain for $57 a night. Breakfast nearby and gone for most of the day elsewhere. There is a nice pool at the inn which we used at night. We did not need the AC.

We were very lucky with beautiful weather. Sever clear much of the day. A light jacket was OK and many hikers on the mountain.

Very good dinner one evening at Fabyan's Station and Restaurant and Lounge which is an old train station in Bretton Woods at the road that leads to the Cog. A little pricey but there is not much dining completion in this area.

We ordered our Cog tickets on line.

Rich