My train out of Landquart was the same one that brought me here, but I had to be careful: At Klosters, we had combined with a second train, and on the way back through we would split up again, so I had to make sure to get on the correct half of the train. That's something new for me! Luckily, Landquart has fancy new platform signs that make it quite clear which half of the train is going on to Scuol-Tarasp and which is going back to Davos.
There's not a ton to see on the route from Landquart to Scuol-Tarasp, nearly 12 miles of which is the Vereina tunnel, built in the 90s. I wanted to add this corner of the map just for completion's sake (I rode the entire network except the Landquart-Disentis line), but it's much less interesting than most of the RhB network.
On the next train, heading to Pontresina, I finally got to see the cool feature of these new trains -- the driver's compartment has windows into the main part of the train, allowing a bit of a view out the front. Unfortunately, the windows are way too high for a good view, and most drivers leave the curtains closed so you can't see out (I even had a driver on another trip notice that I was looking through the window and immediately close the curtains to block my view -- rather rude, but I suppose Swiss people, like the Germans they share a language with, aren't known for being nice!).
I was hoping to see one of the car-carrying trains that run through the Vereina Tunnel, but there weren't any at the station when I went past in either direction.
The line from Pontresina to Scuol-Tarasp is quite scenic, but it only operates with the new trains that lack good windows to look out, and the train was full of locals who didn't like me opening the windows that do open, so I didn't get a lot of good pictures. The RhB really missed out by not including a sightseeing section on these trains like they did on the Albula Line cars.
Finally, it's time for the last train of the day, heading back to Tirano. This time I ended up on one of the refurbished older cars, which still have windows that open.
Sadly, the clouds were too thick for a nice sunset, but the rapidly failing light made for a very atmospheric crossing of the Bernina Pass. On the way, we passed the heritage livery EMU -- we'll be seeing a lot more of that train soon!
It was fun to watch our trenino rosso (little red train, which is what the Italians call this railway) winding through the inhospitable, foggy landscapes across the pass. With it getting dark out, I wouldn't have been able to get any good pictures (or even see much of anything) without the opening windows on this train -- it was a bit sad to see how few other windows on the train were open, meaning the rest of the passengers apparently weren't all that interested in this.
As it got truly dark out, the lights from the train played on the snowy landscape in increasingly interesting ways. I'm really impressed with how these photos turned out.
The switchbacks down to Pontresina provided some cool nighttime views too.
And I almost missed it, but the spiral viaduct looked absolutely amazing all lit up too.
That's finally it for day 1 of 2 on the RhB network. Three posts for one day is probably a bit excessive, but I had an excessive amount of fun this day and wanted to share it all with you. Seriously, the two days I spent here were two of the most exciting and fun days of my entire life, and I encourage all of you to come here and experience it for yourself.
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