Mount Desert Island: Shaped by Nature

During the late 1800’s Railroads were one of the most popular
forms of transportation. Railroads were efficient, fast (In
comparison to other forms of transportation available at the time),
and relatively easy to operate. “Mountain climbing” locomotives
were developed in the 1870’s by Sylvester Marsh. In the 1880’s,
Mount Desert Island had a “Mountain climbing” locomotive on the side
of Green Mountain (now called Cadillac Mountain), and the following is the
history of that locomotive and the story of the Green Mountain Railway
from Eagle Lake to Green Mountain in Eden, Maine.
This writing is based on information found in the book "Steam to the Summit: Bar Harbor’s remarkable cog railway"
by Peter Bachelder.

At 1532 feet above sea level, the summit of Green Mountain (now called Cadillac Mountain) holds
the spot of being the second highest mountain on the direct western
shores of the Atlantic ocean. The native Americans were the first to
reach the summit of Green Mountain, taking the journey slowly, not
interested in a challenging hike, but only in reaching the summit
without harming any piece of the land.

In 1866, a crude carriage road was built along the same route taken
by the Indians by Daniel Brewer, enabling horse drawn carriages to
reach the high summit of Green Mountain and take in its breathtaking views. Later that year, Daniel
Brewer constructed a small hotel at the highest peak of Green
mountain. The hotel was very successful, taking in almost 3,000
people in its most successful summer.

In December of 1880, Francis H. Clergue began taking preliminary
steps to building a railway up the western side of Green Mountain.
Clergue, a 1875 graduate of Bangor Regional High School, was the son
of Joseph Hector Clergue, a successful barber and wigmaker, and the
oldest of eight siblings. He enrolled in Maine State College, known
today as the University of Maine, but dropped out after only a year
and a half. He continued on to become a clerk for attorney Frederick
M. Laughten, Eventually becoming a partner in Laughton’s firm.

Clergue studied many different designs of railroads, and eventually
settled on the cog railway, a relatively new concept, which had been
designed and out into use on Mount Washington by Sylvester Marsh. To
many people of that time period, the idea that a locomotive could
ascend a mountain seemed impossible.

The cog railway had been specifically designed for ascending steep
slopes, and, as such, it differed in several ways from a normal
railroad. Most railroads of the time used simply four smooth wheels,
turned by way of a piston, and this propelled the locomotive forward
along the tracks. But on a steep incline, these smooth wheels would
be unable to grip the rail tracks sufficiently enough to propel the
locomotive up the tracks. The cog railway, however, had a large cog
in-between the rear wheels of the locomotive, which would grip a
specially designed toothed middle rail on the tracks, and thus
provide sufficient power to ascend an incline. To prevent the cog
from turning backwards, and sending the locomotives hapless riders
and the locomotive crashing down the mountain, a small ratchet was
attached to the cog.
In addition to this, a gripper was positioned beneath the central
rail to prevent the cog from disengaging, and thus flying back down
the mountain.
Such a device was perfect for ascending the steep slopes of Green
Mountain. Seeking to improve upon the original design, Clerque added
a second cog, so that if anything were to happen to the first cog,
the railcar would be able to continue its ascent/descent until
repairs could be made without sacrificing the safety of the passengers.

But Clergue couldn’t just build a railway up the western side of
Green Mountain without permission-or any land-`on the western side of
Green mountain. in 1881, Clergue was able to obtain a lease of 240
acres of land on the western side of the mountain, along with a right-
of-way from eagle lake at the base, to the summit of Green
Mountain for 20 years from Walter H. Dunton.
Surprisingly, no legal records exist that confirm whether or not
Clergue was able to get permission from the town of Eden, today’s Bar
Harbor, to build the Green Mountain Railway, but we can only assume
that he did, as he continued on constructing the railway undaunted.

Construction began on the Green Mountain Railway in February of
1883. Crews began by clearing a 100-foot wide strip through the
forest, working twelve hour shifts per day and the rate of $0.125 per
hour, or $1.50 per day. in mid April, 15 of the 175 or so workers
went on strike, demanding a raise of $0.021 per hour, or $0.25 per
day. Their request was dismissed by Clergue, and construction of the
railway continued on without further incident.

Since Green Mountain had a relatively consistent contour, the need
for much trestle work was almost completely eliminated, although
there were several places where some was needed.
To lay the track workers would drive lateral rows of holes six
inches deep into the solid granite, and then insert an 18 by 1.25 -
inch iron rod. These large rods would serve as permanent support for
the logs that would later be used for the foundation. after the
foundation logs were placed, crews would then attach stingers
parallel to the track and following those would come 6-inch cross
ties made of spruce, each one of those secured by 2 bolts this
created a very sturdy structure, which could easily handle the weight
of a locomotive.

As work on the tracks of the railway continued, Clergue purchased a
10-ton locomotive Manchester Locomotive Works, the same company that
had built the locomotive for the Mount Washington Cog Railway a
several years previously.
Transporting the 20,000-pound locomotive from New Hampshire to Eagle
Lake would prove to be a real challenge , as the steamship originally
intended to transport the locomotive proved to be to small, and
Clergue was forced to charter the schooner Stella Lee to transport
the locomotive from Manchester to Mount Desert Island. The Stella Lee
reached Hamor’s Wharf in Eden on Wednesday, April 18th, almost a week
after its departure from Manchester. A team of 14 horses were used to
drag the weighty locomotive from Bridge Street, Then called Bar Street,
to the north shore of Eagle Lake. The locomotive averaged less then a
mile per day, arriving on April 21st. the final leg of the journey, the 1.5 miles
across Eagle Lake to the base of Green Mountain, had to be delayed until a
sufficient amount of ice could be removed from the lake to allow the
locomotive to be ferried across.

On May 24th, a slightly battered Wauwinet arrived at Eagle Lake,
having successfully traversed the 2.1 mile journey from Hamor’s
Wharf to Eagle Lake, over a period of about three weeks.
Clerque was unable to obtain legal documentation for the small
steamboat Wauwinet, as Eagle Lake was not considered by the
government to be One of the navigatible waters of the United States.

After witnessing the success of the Green Mountain Railway, Clergue
came up with the idea of building a railroad from the base of Green
Mountain to the village of Eden. As with the Green Mountain Railway,
Clergue had begun implementing the new enterprise before informing
the public of it. This time however, the public acted in the short
time they had, and hired attorneys Andrew Wiswell and Hannibel Hamlin
Jr. to represent them. The hearing resulted in permission for Clergue
to build a railway to the outskirts of Eden, but the railway
couldn’t be built into the town of Eden.

Clergue kept the Mount
Desert Railway project alive for several years without actually
building anything until he finally shut it down it 1892.

On April 29, 1883 the foundation work began on the Summit House.
This hotel was designed to have a large dining room, two parlors – one for men and one for women, and a total of 16 sleeping rooms. On August 2, 1884 the Summit House caught fire and burned down.
No guests when in the hotel at the time.

The next day a tent was erected on the lawn and meals were served just two days later.
It took on a few weeks to rebuild the Summit House.

The Green Mountain Railway enjoyed 4 very successful seasons, but
after 1889, the business slowed down almost to a halt for undisclosed
reasons, and the railway up Green Mountain was finally shut
down in 1890.