This interesting space, which at first glance I thought was the bike car due to the lack of seats, but I couldn't figure out why the bike car would have panoramic windows. I then started playing around with the control buttons, which I thought would operate electric window blinds like some Italian trains have, only to find out that they move the entire top part of the window up and down, almost like power windows in a car (except it's a whole double-pane window with frame that moves). Pretty cool! And I'm particularly impressed that this is considered a second class car, so you can use it without buying a massively expensive first class ticket.
Since I had barely made it back to the train on time, I didn't have long to look around before we got moving. The scenery on this route (the Albula line) isn't quite as amazing as the Bernina line so far, but my favorite part is yet to come...
Apparently some of the trains on this line have a very fancy vintage restaurant car next to the sightseeing car. Sadly, none of the trains I rode ever had one of these -- I doubt I would have been able to afford anything on the menu, but it would have been cool to walk through and look at it at least. It appears that they mostly run on weekends, and I was here on week days.
The Albula line doesn't have the steep slopes of the Bernina line, instead using even more switchbacks and spiral tunnels while crossing back and forth across the Albula Valley.
I think this might be my favorite part of the whole RhB network, though that's probably biased by the fact that I actually got to see this area in the sun, unlike most of the Bernina line. It's no surprise that both the Bernina Express and the Glacier Express run on this section of railway.
I love this chairlift that passes right over the line. How cool would it be to be on that chairlift when a train comes through right below you?!
Bergun Station has a railway museum that I would love to come back to someday, along with displays commemorating the world-record 100-car train that the RhB ran on this section of the line in 2022 to celebrate their new Allegra EMUs. That would have been a sight to behold, especially with all of the spots where the line loops back on itself.
This day, I was only going one stop further before switching to one of those new EMUs to take me from Filisur around to Landquart. Originally, I thought I wasn't going to be able to do this, since the line from Filisur to Davos (yes, that Davos) only had a couple trains a day in 2024, but for 2025 whatever work they were doing must have been completed and they went back to the full hourly schedule.
Unfortunately, these new trains only have a few windows that open, and they don't open very far... plus the locals weren't particularly happy that I kept opening the windows. So while this is another very scenic area, I didn't have quite as much fun here and wasn't able to get pictures that were quite as good as before.
The line from Davos to Landquart is the original part of the RhB network, and one of the oldest railway lines in Switzerland, having opened in 1890. The section from Davos down to Klosters is absolutely stunning.
The rest of the line to Landquart is still quite nice, but a lot less special -- it feels like a normal railway that happens to be in a beautiful area, rather than a true mountain railway like the other sections we've seen so far.
Anyway, I'm going to have to call it quits because it's getting really late here and I need to get to bed. Tomorrow's post should finish up this one day, and then we'll see how many posts I need to get through the next day! 🙂
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