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Very few people know how the Cog Railway works. This page will answer most people's questions. First off, it is called the Cog Railway because of the way it climbs up the tracks. As each of the four cylinders get steam in them they push the connecting arm which pushes and pulls the counter balance on a crank shaft next to the main axle. On the crank shaft there is a small gear which turns a spur gear on the main axle. The small gear and spur gear has a 5 to 1 ratio. On the same axle there is a cog gear which is turning with the axle and so it grabs onto the cog rack and pulls the engine up the mountain. If there were no cog gear, the friction of the wheels on the tracks would not be enough to carry that much weight on such a steep grade. The brake drum is also on the crank shaft. Whenever the engineer "winds the brakes" the shoe will tighten on the drum, which will slow the cog gear down. On the main axle there is also a ratchet. The ratchet only allows the axle to move in one direction going up so the engine cannot go down.

All the locomotives are coal-fired, and are run by a crew of three people, the engineer, fireman, and brakeman. The fireman shovels coal into the fire box anywhere from 3-5 shovels full every minute or so. While he is doing this, the engineer is running the foward steam, water injectors and other controls in the cab. The brakeman in the coach watches the tracks from the deck and then on the way down brakes "light" against the engine bumper block.

On the way up, the engine uses steam. This works by the boiler injecting water, heating up to the point of steam and then it makes its way into the steam dome. From there it goes through the foward steam valve, down the side stack, and into the cylinder. After the piston is pushed to the other side in the cylinder, it forces the steam out and lets other steam in. The exhaust steam goes out the smoke stack for draft for the fire. Each cylinder has about 100 horse power.

On the way down, the whole system is reversed using air. The air is sucked down through the side stack goes through the cylinders and exits through the foward steam pipe. Underneath the cylinders there are cylinder cocks. These are for getting the water out of the cylinders. If there is a large amount of water, it will seize the piston inside and jam it up.

For safety reasons, the coach and engine are NOT connected. The only thing that has physical contact between them both is the bell chord that is held by a small piece of wire. The bell chord is used to stop the engine if there is a problem or if something is in the tracks. They are not connected so the enine and coach can brake seperately.