The Train

 There are trains and then there is The Train.  

Ready to roll at St. Moritz

This is The Train.  

The Glacier Express.  https://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/

Express, not be cause it goes fast.  It doesn't.  It's meter gauge.  55 mph is flat out.  Most places, too many curves and grades for that.  Express because it doesn't stop many places en-route from St. Moritz to Zermatt.

But, that's not what makes it The Train.  It's the continuous "knock your socks off" scenery, the service and the food.  We went Excellence Class.  One and one seating in pair with a table in between.  You need the table because they serve one fantastic course after the other.  While you eat, the train travels through tunnels and over viaducts and weaves through the mountains, up one, and down another.

They did let me on...

Our seats

The first part of the trip is along the Albula Line which has numerous viaducts and tunnels, including spiral tunnels.  The valleys all the way to Chur were filled with picturesque towns.  This part is operated by Rhaetian Railway.  

One of many stone arch viaducts

The scenery was everywhere.  Valleys with towns, backed by mountains.  

Eric shooting Landwasser Viaduct

The famous Landwasser Viaduct

Time for food...and wine.  Cheers!

More views from the train.

A quick stretch the legs stop

..and some more food, and wine!

Rolling through the Grand Canyon of Switzerland along the Rhine River

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Rolling upstream toward Disentis

Changing locomotives at Desentis

Leslie explaining the finer points of European couplers and air brakes to me.

Locomotive on the right about to replace the one on the left.  The new locomotive is needed because sections of the route now require a cog wheel for the steeper grades.

Now on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn Railway

We start climbing up to Oberalp Pass.

At Oberalp, we meet an eastbound Glacier Express

The "lighthouse" marks the start of the Rhine River which flows away from us.  The lake in the foreground is the Reuss which later feeds the Rhone.

The view from Natschen, just west of Oberalp, looking down toward Andermatt

Regional train climbing up to meet ours.

Approaching Andermatt

Rolling down the Reuss River valley.

We pass through Brig and then on to Visp, where our train leaves the Rhone River Valley and heads south toward Zermatt.

Finally, Zermatt

The Matterhorn revealed itself for a short while just after we arrived

It's hard to beat the experience of the Glacier Express.  It was eight hours of non-stop food, drink and scenery.  But, Switzerland has more tricks up it's sleeve for us.

Tomorrow, the Gornegrat.