After Daybreak published an item on Feb. 11 about a bid to create a LEGO model of Mt. Washington’s Cog Railway, this letter arrived in the inbox. It points to Cog history and lore, the Cog’s ties to the Upper Valley, and previous LEGO model efforts. The original Daybreak item is way down at the bottom.

Greetings –

My name is Tim Lewis.  I am a retired professor from Northern Vermont University–Lyndon where I taught journalism from the Fall of 1999 to Spring 2023.  Your Daybreak today talked about what is the fourth attempt to generate enough support to convince LEGO to produce a Mt Washington Cog Railway model for sale. (See PDF at the end for the story of the first three.)

I am researching the history of the Mount Washington Cog Railway, where my father, Norman “Jitney” Lewis ran steam trains for 18 seasons (1950-1967) and I grew up (1953-1967).  The focus of my research is to tell the story of the world’s first mountain-climbing railroad for the first time through the eyes and lives of the people who worked there. So far (after 10 years), I have identified over 3,150 names from 1866 forward.

You can see what I'm up to at my research website. https://coggersofmtwashingtonnh.org/  There you will find generously illustrated draft manuscripts available for download. The LEGO piece attached is from the Model Behavior section of Vol. 4 Appendix.

This project is a busman’s holiday (I was a statehouse reporter for WDEV & WCAX for 35 years) and a personal scrapbook of my extended Mountain Family. I wanted Daybreak to be aware of my project because it has deep roots in the Upper Valley. The man who hired my dad in 1950, Col. Henry N. Teague, was a Dartmouth grad and a member of the first class at the Tuck School.  When he took over the Railroad in 1931, he hired Dartmouth boys to work on the line. The retired Mascoma Bank president Steve Christy is also a Cogger, and the last steam engine for the Cog was built in Enfield.  I mention all this to underscore that “Coggers Walk Amongst Us!”

There may have been as many as 10-thousand workers in the last 155 years and I have not quite a third of those employees on my roster.  I’m always looking for the names of those who worked on Mt. Washington (at the Summit House, Marshfield Base and railroad) so they can go on my Roster and get credit for time served.... uh, time worked at very unique summer job. Anyone who’s aware of someone who should be on the roster can email me at [email protected].

I am currently pushing to update my manuscripts available for download at my website.  Do with this what you may, but I figured I’d introduce the effort and give you more background than you ever will need on the “railway to the moon.”

Rgds, Tim “Jitney Jr” Lewis

Official (Retiree) of Northern Vermont University – Lyndon

Cog Kid & Mt. Washington Railway Prosopographer

• ”Prosopography is an investigation of the common characteristics of a group of people, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable.”

Vol 4 Appendix-Cog LEGGO campaigns.pdf

This email was in response to:

**2,037.** That, it turns out, is how many Lego pieces go into making a replica of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, a design by the Lego user NMCbrick_ posted on the company's Lego Ideas, a DIY projects site. "I have added every possible detail to this model, from the slanted front to the angled, adjustable seats. I decided to build this model after going on this train in real life and feeling inspired by its unique design aspects," brick_ writes. "It is certain to make quite a presence on any display." (h/t to David Brooks' Granite Geek for noticing.)