Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: SBB

Swiss Railway Snow Shed, Picture 3, Switzerland, 1…

30 Nov 2007 802
And....here's another snowshed shot. :-)

Swiss Railway Snow Shed, Picture 2, Switzerland, 1…

30 Nov 2007 551
The Rhatische Bahn also has a number of concrete snowsheds, in addition to the traditional wooden ones. Here's one of them.

Swiss Railway Snow Shed, Switzerland, 1998

30 Nov 2007 346
Here's a shot taken from the snowshed.

Swiss Landscape, Picture 20, Switzerland, 1998

30 Nov 2007 347
Here the downgrade is really noticeable, as we're approaching the Italian border.

Swiss Railway Viaduct, Switzerland, 1998

30 Nov 2007 393
The route from Pontresina to Tirano is steeply graded, but less so than it could have been. Because it is a rail line, frequented by mostly conventional trains using bare steel wheels on bare steel rails, there are still limits as to what the trains can take. Therefore, there are a number of rail spirals, like this one, and switchbacks as well. That building we're heading into is a snowshed.

Swiss Landscape, Picture 19, Switzerland, 1998

30 Nov 2007 407
I'm fairly certain that I took this on the way down into Italy.

Altitude Marker and Station Sign, Cavaglia, Switze…

30 Nov 2007 432
There's the altitude marker...1693 meters, or 5555 feet!! The Rhatische Bahn is by no means the highest railway in the world, but it's certainly at a higher altitude than average!!

Cavaglia Bahnhof, Switzerland, 1998

30 Nov 2007 376
Cavaglia Bahnhof is interesting in that it has an altitude marker on it, giving an idea of how high up this line is.

Swiss Landscape, Picture 18, Switzerland, 1998

30 Nov 2007 345
Although this is a brutal, rocky, craggy shot, I actually saw some much rawer stuff when I was up there.

Swiss Landscape, Picture 17, Switzerland, 1998

30 Nov 2007 388
Unfortunately, I'm afraid these next few are hopelessly out of order, as they're supposed to go before, Cavaglia, which is supposed to go before Ospizio Bernina. I'll try to straighten it out in an iPernity album in the next day or two. :-) This shot is, I think, of the frozen lake pictured earlier, with blowing snow. Does anybody know which one it is?

Alp Crum Buffet, Ospizio Bernina, Switzerland, 199…

30 Nov 2007 1 1 510
This restaurant is next to Ospizio Bahnhof, but what interests me more are the flatcars on the other track. That's not a freight train, but a passenger train that carries cars, or what in English speaking countries would be called an autotrain. Many people are so intimidated by the mountain conditions (probably not bad judgement) that they let the railway do the driving!!

Swiss Landscape, Picture 13, Switzerland, 1998

28 Nov 2007 401
This is one of my favorites!! :-) I think mainly what I like is the composition.

Ospizio Bernina Bahnhof (station), Ospizio Bernina…

28 Nov 2007 598
This is Ospizio Bernina Bahnhof, on the final downhill stretch into Italy.

Swiss Landscape, Picture 16, Switzerland, 1998

28 Nov 2007 392
Frozen lake! :-)

Swiss Landscape, Picture 15, Switzerland, 1998

28 Nov 2007 424
Here's an alternate, wider shot of the frozen lake in Picture 16.

Swiss Landscape, Picture 14, Switzerland, 1998

28 Nov 2007 369
In this shot of the frozen lake, it's less abstract, and more obvious what it is.

Swiss Landscape, Picture 12, Switzerland, 1998

28 Nov 2007 458
Here's another great shot, in my opinion anyway. :-) Snow, clouds, mountains, rock. An amazing Alpine scene! :-) Check out the frozen lake in the foreground!