Martin Engstrom, who became famous across northern New England and known and recognized as “Marty on the Mountain,” left us earlier this month – passing away on Thursday, January 4th, to be exact – at age 86.
As you’ll read below, while his primary job was as a TV and radio transmitter engineer working at the top of Mount Washington (this photo of the peak was taken by Marty himself), included in his duties was a nightly 30-second weather report on current conditions up on the mountain. Quoting from his obituary in the Portland Press-Herald: “With a Maine accent so thick some viewers thought it must be fake, Engstrom wore a clip-on bow tie and read his reports from hand-written cue cards he taped to the camera. His folksy, unpolished style made him a hit with viewers, and he became known to generations of Mainers simply as “Marty on the Mountain.” Another quote from the Press-Herald: “He was very humble. People would come up to him excited and say ‘Oh, you’re Marty Engstrom’ and he’d just say ‘Yup’” said (daughter Anita) Williams, of Fryeburg. “We’d tell him, “Dad, you’re famous, people know who you are.”
While having talked with Marty by telephone on more than one occasion and both he and his daughter Anita providing most of the photos included in the story below, Marty had invited me to come by for a visit. Sadly, I just did not get back up to that area to meet him face-to-face. Fryeburg, by the way, is just across the state line from New Hampshire and the popular tourist area of North Conway.
Yes, of course, we’re talking about Mt. Washington, New Hampshire! And, of course, Marty does not “own” the mountain. However, “Marty” became the most visible face representing the engineers and others who kept television and radio signals beaming from that mountaintop out across all of northern New England beginning in 1954 and continuing into the 21st century!
While WMTW-TV began operations in 1954 and the FM — which eventually became WHOM — signed on in 1958, Martin “Marty” Engstrom did not join the “top of the mountain” crew until 1964 … and did so as an engineer responsible for the television and FM transmitters as well as to two large diesel generators which provided the electrical power for those transmitters plus supplied the weather station next door. He carried out those duties faithfully for 38 years.
What Brought Marty Fame
But, you say, what brings fame to a television transmitter engineer. Well, the other, smaller part of his daily duties — which Marty wasn’t aware of until his first day on the job — was to present a nightly live 30-second report on the current weather conditions at the summit of Mount Washington, which regularly experiences some of the most severe weather to be found anywhere in the continental United States and even anywhere around the globe!
So, beginning that evening in 1964, he gave a report, forced a smile, and became known to all throughout the region as “Marty on the Mountain.” Speaking in his thick “down east” accent, Marty states,
“I never was intentionally in the weather business. I was a TV engineer, not a weatherman.”
As the calendar turned over to the next century, the decision was made to move the WMTW-TV transmitters off of Mount Washington, which was completed in 2002 … meaning that Marty and the other mountaintop engineers were no longer needed, other than for a short period of time until the State of New Hampshire took over maintaining the diesel generators … the transmitters for former TV sister, WHOM (FM) and an FM licensed to Berlin, New Hampshire — which arrived in the late 1980’s — would remain, as did the weather observatory. All would still need generated power, as Mount Washington would continue to live “off the grid” for another seven years until commercial power would finally reach the top, being run up along the tracks of the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
This change was not troubling to Marty, as after spending 26 weeks, half of each year, for more than 38 years living and working at this remote location, he was ready for a change. Having turned 65, he was pleased to retire and take on a normal life with his wife at their home in Fryeburg, Maine … and to write and publish his story.
Marty’s Full Story
If you have not read his story, if you have any interest in broadcasting and/or dealing with the elements and functioning “off the grid,” this is a book for you! Marty’s family tells me they still have several copies available … so I urge you to order a copy soon. It can be yours by sending a check or money order for $25.00 (including postage and shipping) directly to Marty Engstrom, 227 West Fryeburg Road, Fryeburg, ME 04037. Be sure to include your complete mailing address and a telephone number or E-mail address should there be questions.
To see and hear Marty some 12 years after his retirement, check out this WMTW-TV8 report which aired in 2014.
What is missing from the book, as it just recently took place, is that Marty was a 2019 inductee into the Maine Broadcasting Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honor … considering the brutal weather conditions under which he worked, as well as the weekly trips up and down the mountain — these can be treacherous during the winter months when snow is deep and visibility likely quite poor, even with heavy-duty snow-cat vehicles!
Before wrapping up this story related to Mount Washington, New Hampshire … here’s a few more bits of information:
This picture, dating to the early 1900s, shows the Summit House — the large building in the upper part of the air photo above, which was taken in the early 1970s — along with a clear view of the Mount Washington Cog Railway station. Two notes: The cog railway officially began operating 150 years ago in 1869, and the Summit House was torn down in 1981.
Working on the Mountain
As I noted at the outset, Marty did not work alone on the mountain, he was part of a two-man crew which shared duties with a second two-man who worked alternate weeks … yet, because of his unique attributes as regularly displayed on television, he became “the face” of the mountain crew.
And, a case of a photographer with a camera in hand is at the right place just at the right time … to capture this large chunk of ice falling from one of the Channel 8 transmitting antennas.
An annual event that occurred for more than half a century began each August and continued nightly through late September was the refilling of the huge fuel tanks holding the juice that fed the diesel generators that produced the juice that kept the TV and FM transmitters operating 24 hours a day year-round. Each night, as soon as the steep, narrow 7.6-mile road was closed to tourist and other daytime traffic, tanker trucks filled with diesel fuel would begin their slow climb to the top.
I first took a genuine interest in Mount Washington in late 1971 — as written about in my Norm Alpert Musings from earlier this year — when my Easy Listening programming began airing via the FM station transmitting from its top. Then, in 1975, we made our first visit to the area when Alicia chose North Conway, New Hampshire, as one of our stops on our honeymoon trip. I do not remember if it was at this time or a return trip to the region a year or two later that we visited the mountaintop.
Rather than drive up or take the cog railway — which I have not yet done, even though I am a fan of rail-related operations — we rode up in one of the tour vans. When we arrived at the top, I spotted the TV building (the large flat-roofed building to the very left in the photo at the top of this page), and we headed in that direction. A knock on the door was soon answered; after I explained who I was, we were invited in and given a tour by the engineer on duty — which I’m pretty certain was not Marty. However, we were told about the nightly weather broadcasts and the routine they followed in setting up the camera each evening and preparing for the report.
As soon as I learned of Marty publishing his story about life on the mountain, I purchased a copy and read cover to cover … and read much of it again as I prepared my Musings remembering Norm Alpert and WHOM. Since then, I’ve been intending to write about Marty and the “mountain,” … with the impetus finally coming when I read of Marty’s induction into the Maine Broadcasting Hall of Fame. But, you say, Mount Washington is in New Hampshire! That’s true — however, the stations’ are actually licensed to Poland Springs, Maine, the old resort community in south-central Maine from which the bottled water of the same name originated. Plus, the station’s primary center of population is Portland, Maine.
Today, the transmitter building and associated facilities are long gone (the FM transmitters are in a small building and unmanned, as they are remote-controlled from their respective studios), and the mountaintop is now the Mount Washington State Park, managed by the state of New Hampshire.
Marty’s Home Town
While I’ve not met Marty in person, I have talked with him via telephone several times. He’s lived virtually all of his life in Fryeburg, Maine, just across the border from North Conway, New Hampshire. If the name “Fryeburg” sounds vaguely familiar, it’s likely because the Fryeburg Fair, one of America’s great agriculturally oriented fairs, is still going strong after more than 160 years! In closing, I just can’t resist sharing a couple of photos taken a few years ago by yours truly at the Fair:
If you have a story to share that relates to any of these subjects I’ve covered, please let me hear from you!
Otherwise, I’m not sure where the road will take us next … but I’ll do my best to make it interesting. So, not to miss out, scroll down just a short bit and sign up to be alerted when the next Musings appears in the space … these notifications always include a short synopsis of what the subject matter is, allowing you to quickly decide if you wish to go further. Thank you.
Image Credits: The Mount Washington from the air and ice falling from the TV transmitting antenna photos courtesy of Marty himself., The Hall of Fame award photos provided by Marty's daughter Anita., Summit House photo – Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
Loved watching Marty! God bless him.
Hi Marlin,
I remember Mr. Engstrom and saw and heard him on TV several times. My mother and father lived on the coast of S. Maine for 9 years where my father listened regularly to your music on WMTW/WWMT/WMTQ/WHOM FM during the 70s before moving to CT in 1977. In Summer 1957 I visited the Mt. Washington summit in a camp car tour.
Dick O’Connor