REALP – Railway fans are marking the 100th anniversary of one of Switzerland’s most storied mountain lines this weekend, with historic steam locomotives carrying visitors through some of the country’s most dramatic Alpine landscapes.
Rising to 2,431 meters (7,976 feet), the Furka Pass is one of Switzerland’s highest Alpine crossings and is widely known for the sharp switchbacks seen in the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger.” Decades before Sean Connery’s 007 raced through the pass in a dramatic car chase, a steam train made its first continuous journey along the steep, twisting route on July 3, 1926. The line went on to become an important rail connection between the Uri and Valais regions in central Switzerland.
Rail traffic was later redirected through a tunnel at the base of the Alps in the early 1980s, leading to the closure of the original mountain route. Its revival came through the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, affectionately known as the railway’s “pioneers,” who dedicated countless hours to restoring, maintaining and operating the tracks and trains so they could run much as they did a century ago.
The first stretch reopened as a heritage railway in 1992, and by 2010 the full 18-kilometer (11-mile) route was once again ready for passengers. Today, the steam trains operate in summer as a tourist attraction between Realp and Oberwald, where travelers ride in vintage carriages past rivers, Alpine meadows and bright green pastures still dotted with patches of snow.
Visitors who rode through the German-speaking region last month aboard the “dampflokomotive” praised the experience. Passenger Stephan Willareth described the journey as “wonderful,” while Kurt Guldemann, a former Swiss railways employee, emphasized the historical importance of the engines.
Bernhard Lang, one of the volunteer enthusiasts trained to drive the vintage steam trains, said learning to handle the locomotive is a craft that can take years to develop.
“It’s something like a living machine, so you have to get kind of the feeling for it,” he said. “To feel how it behaves, how it moves, how it smells, how it sounds.”
Jacob Kallert, a 21-year-old transport engineering student from Germany and the railway’s youngest train manager, said listening closely to the locomotives is essential.
“You hear every sound, you hear if everything is right,” he said. “You can pretty much feel how it was then and how it is now.”
Volunteer Sergio Rovelli said anyone who has dedicated their time to the project gets hooked.
“We say, in German, that everyone who works here has the ‘Furka Virus, the Furka disease,’” he joked. “Once you come here, you like it, and you stay.”
A one-way ticket starts at 46 Swiss francs ($56.82) for a journey that lasts just under 2 1/2 hours. The anniversary celebration began Friday and continue through the weekend.
