Tim Lewis Impresses Society Audience With “Cog” Presentation
Professor Tim Lewis of Northern Vermont University-Lyndon sets the stage for his talk about the Mt. Washington Gog Railway and its employees. Rogers Hall, Lowell, March 9, 2019
Lowell, March 10, 2019—Professor Timothy Lewis held a group of thirty-five Society members and guests in rapt attention yesterday as he told the story of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway in the “Jitney Years",” 1930 to 1970. Weaving a tale of financial and operational ups and downs as seen from the eyes of the employees, Tim’s illustrated talk was focused on the people who worked for the railroad, the details of their jobs, and how they occupied themselves in the off-hours.
Tim is the son of Cog engineer Norman “Jitney” Lewis and recently published a two-volume book that he and his father began as a project looking into the history of the railway. Originally conceived as the completion of an operating manual that Jitney was tasked to write, the book became Tim’s memorial to his father and to all those who have worked for the Cog since the 1870s.
The talk offered a new perspective on a New England institution with which we are all familiar, but which we will now think of from another point of view.
