On the rails again: From the Alps to the Goths 2

Shadows of the past: The Furka Pass Railway

I hike down the narrow mountain trail. Below me the raging torrent of a creek gushing noisily down between big boulders. This is the young Rhone, here called Rotten, and these same dark gray troubled waters will finally end up in the Grand Bleu of the Mediterranean. On the slope across are the steep tracks of the cog railway coming up from Oberwald to Gletsch and the grey band of the road which is able to negotiate the grade by a number of hairpin turns.

The Rotten valley

The valley is cast in deep shadows while the high peaks around me bask in the light of the low late afternoon sun. It has been a hot summer, too hot, and a yellowish brown color has replaced the deep green of the high alpine meadows. It is pleasantly cool now in the valley, there is no noise above the rushing of the creek after the last roaring motorcyclists have retreated to their evenings of booze. Also the last hikers have left and only a flock of funny looking sheep with black ears, nose and knees are my companions.

The pleasant freshness of the evening has tempted me to walk the 6 km from Gletsch to my hotel in Oberwald instead of taking the last train or postbus. But my progress was slower than I thought and when I compare my watch with the route I have covered on Google maps I realize that I have only made 1.2 km in half an hour. It is already half past five. I have to hurry up. It will be dangerous if not impossible to walk this track in darkness. Maybe I should not have denied the offer of a nice octogenarian to join him in his car for the ride to Oberwald. He warned me that it might be slippery with the danger of falling into the gorge.

The Romans already have used this route across the Furkapass in Switzerland. At a height of 2429 m the pass forms the connection between the cantons (swiss departments) of Wallis and Uri. In the medieval times goods like salt, wine, skins, hides or grain were hauled across the pass on a mule trail. In times of crises, when valley routes were dangerous or closed, the pass became especially important. Finally, in 1864-1866 the government built an almost 40 km long route of 4.20 m wide to facilitate the crossing of the mountains between the villages of Oberwald and Realp.

View up the Grimsel pass

The hamlet of Gletsch received its name in the 19th century. It was right at the mouth of the Rhone Glacier, one of the largest in the alps, which flowed all the way down into the valley. The scenery is spectacular. The pass is surrounded by mountain peaks like Tällihorn, Furkahorn or Sidelhorn. all with a height around 3000 m. At Gletsch the route to the Grimselpass branches off, providing access to several mountain lakes, the biggest of which is the Grimselsee.

However, traffic over the winding mountain roads was cumbersome. Until 1921 a horse-drawn post provided public transport on the new road. In that same year the first postbus service was introduced. However, to improve transportation the construction of a railway was necessary.

The valley of Oberalp

In 1911 the construction of the Furka railway began. In 1915 the rails had reached Gletsch, in 1916 further construction stopped due to financial problems and in 1923 the company went bankrupt. The new-found Furka-Oberalp Bahn took over and finally, in 1926, the entire line was completed.

The rock face once covered by glacier

In the time of the construction the opening of the railway allowed easy access to those mountains for tourists. The original, small mountain refuge in Gletsch, built in 1830, was successively enlarged to a huge, luxurious hotel – Hotel Glacier du Rhone, a mere 100 m from the end of the glacier.

The train climbs up from Gletsch towards Muttbach

I had taken the last postbus from Oberwald to Gletsch to meet the afternoon steam train coming down across the pass towards Gletsch. There, the steam engine has to be replaced by Diesel for the rest of the run. Due to the dry summer the risk of forest fires originating from the engine’s cinders is too high even though the railway company has installed a sprinkler installation along the rails passing through the forest.

Sprinkler installation to prevent forest fires along the line

The bus stops short of the huge hotel Glacier du Rhone. Apart from the hotel and its various outbuildings, the station building and an engine shed, there is a chapel and a big administration building next to an engine turntable and several ruins. Everything looks abandoned and derelict. The big hotel is closed.

The village of Gletsch and the former glacier in the background

The hotel-village of Gletsch. at the crossing of the main routes from north to south across the Grimselpass and West to East across the Furkapass had enjoyed an incredible popularity for more than a century. Nowhere in Switzerland it was possible to drive so close to the front of the jagged and colorful glacier. In 1936 it had 320 beds and was considered to be the biggest guesthouse of Switzerland. A bit further uphill, the hotel Belvedere allowed an overview of the entire glacier and easy access to ice caves. The mysterious blueish hue in the caves attracted numerous tourists. Guests like the king of Serbia, the prince of Saxonia and the British prime minister stayed here. At the same time the hotel stood in the tradition of Swiss mountain hospices and offered accommodation for hikers, school groups and boy scouts for very reasonable prices. In one of the outbuildings the hotel had its own water turbine driven power station which also produced the electricity for the ovens in the kitchen and the night illumination of the nearby glacier.

Hotel Glacier du Rhone

Since 1893 the hotels and the land along the valley belonged to the empire of the Swiss hotel magnate Seiler. The owner felt ambiguous about the construction of the railway since his hotel was an important stopover point as long as traffic had to follow the difficult and time consuming mountain road. In exchange for land to construct the railway he got the assurance that each train would stop for an hour in Gletsch to allow the passengers to have a refreshment and the last train of the day ended in Gletsch to increase the number of overnight guests.

However, the hotel could only open for 3 month a year. The use of the valley for winter sports was not possible. The danger of avalanches was too high and the rocky slopes were not suitable for alpine skiing. Another problem was that the improvement in road traffic and speed has largely destroyed the historic function of the hotels as a rest area at the foot of two Alpine passes. In addition the increase of through traffic at the two hotels - in the case of the Hotel Belvédère on both long sides and the narrow side of the building – which had multiplied by 100-200 by the 1980s made them unattractive for recreational and holiday stays because of the noise and exhaust fumes. And the main natural attraction, the Rhone Glacier, had completely retreated from the field of view of the hotel guests around 1980.

The chapel of Gletsch

In 1984, after 130 years, the Seiler family closed both hotels. The hotel Glacier du Rhone was sold to the canton Wallis and included in the list of historic places. However, there is no business plan for the reopening of either of these grand historic places. I cannot detect any signs of renovation works going on.

The station of Gletsch with engine shed in the background

In the neglected little park across the entrance I meet the octogenarian. He came up here by car. He still likes to drive the winding pass routes as long as he is allowed to do so. In Switzerland, there are strict rules requiring GP’s to issue medical certificates for old people certifying their ability to drive. He realizes himself that his reactions get slower.

When he was a kid, his parents brought him up here by train. The end of the glacier was still in hiking distance from the hotel. They had lunch and a walk to the mouth of the glacier before they took the train back. It was a popular day trip for families from the city. Today, for him, it is a symbol of nostalgia.

Once this was the best view of the glacier

Instead of coming by train the modern visitors are ephemeral. They whiz by on roaring motorbikes and dash around the curves in cars on screeching tires. There hardly is time left for a coffee. The retreated glacier has lost a lot of its attraction and to protect the remaining ice mattresses have been put on the top surface. This in turn has made the magic blue ice in the caves all but disappear.

The spiral tunnel with gates for winter protection

On my hike down I have just passed one of the two spectacular tunnels on this line, a loop tunnel of 578 m long which allows the train to negotiate the steep incline while the tunnel makes a 360` turn. The entrances can be closed by gates to avoid entrance of snow and damage in winter.

The removable Steffenbachbrücke

The masses of snow and ice at this high altitude are the problem of the line. Both road and railway have to close down between roughly October and May. Already in the first winter after inauguration, the Steffenbach bridge, at the time a masonry viaduct, was destroyed by an avalanche. The bridge was replaced by a removable construction which was (and still is) placed back each spring. After the line was electrified in 1942, all the electrical equipment including the masts had to be temporarily removed each winter at a length of 15 km. But even the reopening of the line in spring posed major problems, since masses of snow accumulated in the narrow valley and were difficult to remove even with rotary snow plows. The snow depths often was so high that the snow had to be removed in layers by hand. In June 1965 a team with a steam locomotive at the snow front was hit by an avalanche, pulled down and buried by snow. There were several casualties, including a journalist who was doing a report on the snow clearing. Steam engine number 10 was destroyed.

The station of Oberwald with the departing Glacier express

As a result, the construction of an alternative route through the Furka Base Tunnel was pushed ahead. It was finally opened in 1982. It allows year round passage of trains and there is a shuttle service for cars. The long, weather dependant trip across the pass is replaced by a smooth, year round ride of minutes.

Two of the people who make this railway work

The labor intense and costly track across the mountain pass was about to be dismantled. However railway enthusiasts founded the Furka Bergstrecke association to preserve the historic pass route. After 1983 the mountain route was gradually restored. The first part of the line reopened in 1992. The summit tunnel was repaired and is used again since 2001. Finally, in 2010 the entire line from Realp to Oberwald was in operation again. Like before, the trains can only run in summer and extensive preparations including the repositioning of the bridges have to be carried out.

The electric equipment was never replaced. The line is now in the state of before 1941, a time even before the octogenarian’s visit as a child. Most of the trains operate with coal fired steam engines. The organization inherited the steam engine number 4 which was used until the end of the regular traffic across the pass for the winter preparations. Another 4 of originally 10 of the engines had been sold to Vietnam when the line was electrified. Together with other Swiss built engines they operated on the cog line to the colonial hill station of Dalat. After that line was abandoned the engines were dumped, but not scrapped. In 1990, in an incredible operation, the Furka Bergstrecke association not only bought 2 of the former Furka pass engines, number 1 and number 9, but also two others, which were built in Switzerland and sold to Vietnam directly, for more than half a million swiss francs. It is interesting to read the whole story following the link below. To bring the engines to Switzerland more than 36 tons of technical equipment had to be shipped to Vietnam first, the road and bridges had to be reinforced and numerous political and bureaucratic obstacles had to be overcome. It is noteworthy that the freighter carrying the engines left Vietnam under the flag of the GDR and arrived in Hamburg under the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany – the flag was changed on the way as result of the German reunification. Finally, 3 of these 4 engines were restored to working order and are now part of the fleet of 7 steam engines (and a steam rotary snow plow) the association uses.

Engine number 4 on the turntable in Gletsch

Finally the steam train from Realp arrives in Gletsch. Because of the dry weather conditions the steam engine has to be changed to a Diesel engine for the remaining leg of the journey to Oberwald. The steam engine is turned on a turntable and will rest in the shed for the first train in the morning. All these installations were rebuilt before the line across the pass could be reopened.

For me it is time to walk back to my hotel in Oberwald. The next day I intend to take the steam train along the entire route and back. But first I have to hurry up since I am afraid I will be surprised by darkness on my way down the valley.

Taking water after the tour up from Realp

In the last evening light the path is not difficult to pursue. It is downhill most of the time, and dry except of those few spots where the water of a mountain spring seeps across. I walk as quickly as I can, sometimes hopping across small wet stretches. From time to time I hastily check time and route on my phone.

Another such little jump and when my left foot touches the ground it slides off to the right. With my right flank I end up in the mud of one of those little wet spots. My left arm has broken the fall on one of the rough rocks left bare by the water of the spring. There are bruises in the palm of my left hand but most of the impact was taken by my left elbow which hurts and starts swelling quickly. Fortunately there is no abyss to my right so I don’t make the fatal fall into the precipice of the raging stream predicted by the octogenarian. Except of the pain in the arm and the mud on my clothes there is nothing preventing me from continuing.

Ready for the overnight rest in Gletsch

Nevertheless it is better to take it easy and walk with consideration. It is almost 6. I do what I should have done in the first place instead of panicking. I check today’s time of the sunset. It is past 8 pm. I have more than 2 hours to go. I will not have problems to arrive before the last light vanishes.

Start of the hike down the valley to Oberwald

In the morning my elbow and hand hurt and the elbow has swollen to the size of a tennis ball. A bit worried I walk to the station of Oberwald after breakfast. In Oberwald cars can board the shuttle trains through the base tunnel to Realp to avoid the time consuming route across the Furka pass. Another new rail route through a 22 km long tunnel under the Grimselpass to Meiringen is planned. At the moment the historic Furka railway only uses two tracks and a turntable in Oberwald. With the construction of the new tunnel and reconstruction of Oberwald station a whole new shed is planned to be built. Today the steep cog track starts right after the platform. A couple of freight cars are used to sell refreshments and provide shelter for the crew. All these plans would bring new life into the quiet little village of 277 inhabitants.

On the footplate of engine number 4

Eventually the train arrives with a Diesel engine and the waiting passengers can board. The three little blue coaches are no match for the powerful Diesel. After climbing up through the forest the steam engine will wait for our train in Gletsch.

Diesel train arriving in Oberwald at the begin/end of the rack section

In Gletsch steam engine number 4, which has never left this line since it had been built in 1913, is waiting to take over. While the train waits to depart I have a little chat with the fireman. And to my surprise and delight I am invited to travel in the cab of the engine. I climb up the little ladder to the footplate and try to make myself as small as possible in the corner of the snug cab. Fortunately the weather is nice and the back of the cab is open to allow the fresh mountain air in.

Change from Diesel to steam engine

Regular and reliable like a Swiss clock the little engine makes up her way up the mountain to the summit tunnel. Shortly after Gletsch the line crosses the main road to the pass. In this section the rack rail is sunk into the road bed. An ingenious mechanism raises it to allow the train pass. The road to the pass continues in switch backs on the opposite side of the valley. When the line was built travelers had a prominent view of the glacier face from their seat on the train. Today the only sign of the presence of the glacier is the icy water gushing down the polished rock face below the rim which hides its remainders. Very soon we arrive at Muttbach, the summit of the line on this side of the tunnel. Here we await the arrival of the train in the other direction before we continue through the tunnel.

Stop at the Furka pass station. Steam still comes out of the mouth of the tunnel

The railway cuts beneath the Furka pass through the 1874 m long Furka Scheitel tunnel. At an altitude of 2160 m this is the highest railway tunnel in Switzerland. After the other train has left the mouth of the tunnel is steaming as if vulcanus is forging his tools in the hell inside. It takes a while after steam and smoke have cleared out of the tunnel. We enter the damp pharynx smelling of smoke and oil. Steam and smoke starts to fill the open cab. In the time of steam locomotives long tunnels were a problem for the crews on the footplate. Sometimes men fainted. To avoid suffocation in their long snow sheds the southern pacific railroad even built huge engines with a cab in front, so called cab forwards. In any case it is wise to wear a cap and glasses to protect from cinders coming in. Lights from the cab of the engine reflects from the wet walls. The tunnel is narrow. The mass of rock above is alive and causes the walls to cave in. Regular works are necessary to allow future passage of trains.

Engine number 9 leaves the tunnel

In 1964 some film scenes of the James Bond film Goldfinger with Sean Connery and Gert Fröbe were shot on the Furka Pass. These Swiss scenes are now considered classics of Bond history and were also quoted in later films; such as the scene about Monaco in Golden Eye.

In Furka

After the tunnel we arrive in Furka station. Here the train has a longer stop and refreshments are sold in a tent. On the slope above marmots whistle in protest over the intrusion in their empire. The crew revises and oils the engine. From here we continue downhill. The main task of the engine now is braking. Both engine and carriages have special brakes working on the rack.

Cow in the ditch along the line

But we have to stop after a short ride. A cow is lying in the ditch next to the line. Probably it fell or slid from the steep slope and now cannot get on its feet again on its own. The engine crew calls for a train with a crane for help. Than we continue.

Since the engine is open in the back there is a good view into the cab

Even when going downhill the fireman has to add a shovel to coal from time to time. A one-way trip requires about 600 kg of coal and 5000 l of water. There is little smoke. This is an environmentally sensitive area and the railway has done everything to reduce the impact. When the engine gets new coal and water in the shed in Realp the cinders are removed with a kind of vacuum cleaner to avoid any escape of dust. The workshop where the engines not used for the day are resting, is painstakingly clean, an art in an area where such a lot of oil and grease has to be used. When I ask for permission to enter they agree under the condition that I do not make anything dirty.

The clean engine shed

Engine number 704 bought in Vietnam

In the shed I can inspect the other engines. Engine 704 was one of the engines which were originally built for the railway in Vietnam. It is bigger than the engines built for Switzerland and can pull more carriages up the slope. Engines 6 and 7 were originally built for the Visp-Zermatt railway. Since these engines always ran in the same direction to the gradient of the line they have to be turned at the summit. The firebox has to be at the valley side of the slope to avoid that it is running dry which could damage the boiler or even cause a boiler explosion.

Engines number 1 and 6

After the engine has got coal and water and the crew has had a lunch break the train starts the climb up to the summit again. The line only operates in the summer month. Before reopening after the winter snow has to be cleared, a bridge has to be reinstalled and damages have to be repaired. The tunnels, the rack and rails, the buildings and the rolling stock need constant maintenance. The torrent of the rivers eats away the roadbed and requires the building of new retaining walls. It is unbelievable that it is possible to operate such a complex railway line just for tourism. The employees and volunteers deserve the greatest respect for this achievement.