 At the end of the 19th century, Maine's tourist industry was developing rapidly.The islands off the coast of Maine were popular attractions, and the possibility of a cog railway to the top of Green Mountain was first explored in the late 1870s, following the success of the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire.Construction of the railway started in 1883, and it was built to the designs in the Marsh patents developed for the Mount Washington line.