Travelling a distance of 180 miles across the central Swiss Alps, this iconic railway journey was established to bring tourists to the region to enjoy the spectacular scenery, winter sports and summer breaks at a time when tourism was in its infancy.
Built in sections of one-metre gauge track, the railway traverses steep mountainsides with the aid of rack and pinion, reaching its greatest elevation of more than 2,000m before descending to its lowest point at Chur, just below 600m.
Along the way, it crosses bridges and viaducts and traverses lengthy tunnels, literally winding its way to intermittent stops between the Matterhorn and Piz Bernina mountains.
This is a journey undertaken today for the pleasure of the scenery and takes eight hours to complete.
Illustrated with photographs taken through the various seasons and along the full length of the track, this book provides a short history of the railway’s construction and a detailed account of its daily journey. An introduction to the railway and a short history are followed by chapters illustrating trains operating on the railway among the spectacular Alpine scenery. Captions accompany each photograph. 96 pages.