Brig MGB station before it was rebuilt to a through station. Glacier Express has just arrived on track 12. After reversing, the train will continue to Zermatt. Meanwhile on track 11 the push-pull train to Göschenen is waiting for its passengers.
Realp and the Urseren Valley (1538-1452 m)
Hotel Post, Realp
Holy Cross Church
Blue winter sky above the Müeterlishorn (3066 m)
Winter reigns in Realp.
First part of the separated Glacier Express passes the Richleren Viaduct...
It is the end of April, and the deep Urseren Valley has turned green. The small red and white trains cross the Furkareuss on the Richlerenviadukt near Hospental. This is probably the most beautiful part of this section.
The construction of the Brig - Furka – Disentis railway line started 20 years after the opening of the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (1891). At this time the Rhaetian Railway's network expanded in Graubünden, the Ilanz - Disentis section was opened in 1912. The Schöllenenbahn, the link between the Gotthard line and the later built Furka-Oberalp-Bahn was completed in 1917.
Construction works first started between Brig and the Furka Pass in 1911, next year also between Andermatt and Disentis. By 1914, the Valais section was completed, the section between Brig and Gletsch was taken into operation in 1915.
The outbreak of World War I affected the French majority shareholder so much, that the construction of the further sections had to be stopped, due to financial problems. The financial crisis led in 1923 eventually to bankruptcy. Only an alliance of the concerned cantons and the neighboring railways (Visp-Zermatt-Bahn, Rhätische Bahn) could save the company and the plan of the east-west rail link from the final termination. The construction works resumed, and the whole line of the newly established Furka-Oberalp-Bahn (as a subordinate of VZ) could be opened in 1926 – in through coaches one could get from Brig even to St. Moritz.
The meter-gauge network was completed only in 1930, when the missing Visp - Brig section of VZ was opened. The three railway companies (VZ, FO, RhB) started their common steam-operated express train, called „Glacier Express” between Zermatt and St. Moritz in the same year.
Continuous traffic was only possible during the summer months, in winter the Furka and the Oberalp Pass remained impassable.
The mountain section through the Oberalp Pass was made suitable for winter traffic by 1942, and the whole line was electified in the AC system of the neighboring railways (11 kV 16 2/3 Hz) at the same time. Together with the electrification of the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn, Schöllenenbahn (operated with 1200 V DC from its start) also switched to 11 kV AC.
In 1961 the FO got independent of VZ (later Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn), and acquired Schöllenenbahn as well.
In order to replace the Furka mountain section – still impassable in winter –, the 15 381 m long Furka Base Tunnel was built from 1973 to 1982 between Oberwald and Realp.
Today the Brig – Disentis line is 97 km long and contains rack sections in Abt system. The maximum inclination is 110 per thousand.
Furka-Oberalp-Bahn merged with BVZ Zermatt-Bahn in 2003, thus Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn was created.
Bridge on the Gotthardreuss and the Assumtion of Mary Church
Hospental station with a regional train running to Brig, and the village's view. The old Gotthard Road climbs from hier up to the pass and also the Gotthard Road Tunnel leads here in the depths.
Andermatt (1436 m)
Andermatt station with two push-pull trains
Departmental vehicles are waiting for the next operation. In front the diesel shunter Tm 2/2 4971.
From the junction station of Andermatt, trains depart not only to Brig and Disentis, but also through the steep Schöllenen Gorge to Göschenen where there is a transfer to the standard-gauge Gotthard Railway.
Since 1982 the Oberalp Pass is the highest point of the railway line. Now the lake is frozen under several meters of snow. Above the station, ski slopes await the winter sports fans.
This regional train is running alrealdy in Graubünden canton towards the Surselva.
The railway strings the villages of Tujetsch like a pearl necklace in the Vorderrhein's valley. The majority of the population is Romansh by mother tongue.
Disentis / Mustér (1130 m)
The monastery and the railway station rule the landscape over the village
Disentis station means the border between the MGB and RhB networks, in fact it belongs to the Rhaetian Railway. Although the gauge and the electric system remain the same, trains may continue here after locomotive change. There is no more rack section on RhB's network, and due to the lower inclinations more cars can be coupled behind a locomotive. For this reason the Glacier Express trains which were separated on the MGB-section run united from Disentis towards the heart of Graubünden.
The St. Martin Abbey, the Benedictine monastery of Disentis
The St. Martin Abbey, the Benedictine monastery of Disentis
Flowery windows
Flowery windows
The Benedictine monastery founded in the 8th century was looted and burnt down by French troops during the War of the Second Coalition in 1799. It was rebuilt in 1880. Since then, the monastery hosts a secondary school as well.
