story

The story behind "Belvédère"

The model of Belvédère is a ficticious train station of the Furka Oberalp Bahn. Contrary to what has been built in the early years of the 20th century in the Furka region high up in the Swiss alps, this cog rail line crossing the Furka region has not been guided throgh a tunnel, but along the face of the mountain all the way up to the Furka pass (see map no.2 for reference). The engineers avoided any additional costs by choosing to use a headshunt instead of a tunnel where the line had to change its direction on the way up to the pass.


Map no. 1: The Furka region within Switzerland		Map no. 2: Belvédère within the Furka region

The whole Furka mountain line whether the real thing or the model is unique in its kind: the line operates for only four monthes due to the adverse weather and snow conditions during the rest of the year. Avalanches, snow storms and meter high snow levels prevent an all year round operation of this line. Each year in Spring the train company spends hugh amounts of money to clear the line of all the remaining snow and debris deposited by the many avalanches which sweep down the hills during winter. On exposed stretches of the line the catenary system has to be reinstated after beeing removed the previous year as preparation for the winter sleep of the line. This task is made easier by the use of wooden poles as part of the catenary system. Surprisingly wood is still used and if by any misfortune an avalanche should cross a stretch of the line which has not been cleared it just snaps and repairs are relatively simple!

Map no. 3: Profile of the Glacier Express route from Zermatt to St. Moritz

Train traffic on the Furka line is busy: during the summer time the tourists wish to experience the unique adventure of crossing the Alps by train and they want to enjoy the inimitable views of the mountains and the Rhone glacier. The most famous train stopping at Belvédère must be of course the "Glacier Express". This train runs every day from St. Moritz to Zermatt and back. There are also the fast trains making direct connections between Brig and Andermatt with stops at the main stations on the line. Other trains, the so called regional trains, stop at every station. These trains are mainly used by the local population and the many mountain walkers and climbers using public transport. Beside the movement of people the conveyance of goods has increased dramatically over the past few years due to the construction of a retention dam for a larger hydro electrical power plant in the area. The Furka line is the sole transport route available to cope with the loads such as heavy construction machinery, heavy plant equipment and all the building materials. Even the basic gravel for the concrete fabrication has to be delivered in form of gravel block trains shuttling from Belvédère to the construction site which is near the Muttbach station. The gravel is brought by lorries from the nearby quarry to the silo in Belvédère. The goods shed in Belvédère is used by the construction company as a shelter for all the delicate goods which are not immediately used on site. A little shunter has been rented from the neighbouring company, the Brig-Visp-Zermatt Bahn to enable the movement of the carriages.

Train operations on the Furka line have not changed since the beginning of the century. There are still no light signals installed and trains are still operating with train orders. The radios in the cabs of the locomotives are the only device which make the dispatcher's job a little bit easier. Due to the heavy traffic and the limited capacity of the energy distribution system the drivers have to coordinate their departures, especially the engagement into the rack sections of the line!

All these complications which for a real railway system would be an absolute nightmare are a source of enjoyment for somebody like me who likes to have plenty of operational problems on his layout!

This story line helps me to schedule my time tables for the trains on my layout. It gives meaning to the existence of the station. Displaying the layout is another form of illustrating the story of life on a remote mountain station!