Rhaetian Railway

I grew up loving railways. My father's railway room and going to school on what is now the Watercress Line might have had something to do with it. I could have been a train driver, or maybe the surveyor who decides the optimal route as a track traverses mountains - or involved in signalling. Witness the episode in which I incised cuttings in my parent's lawn for my Lone Star track, or the complex signalling system I created in the railway room, or imaging myself a train whilst running around the playing fields during the lunch hour at school. One of my main doodle types when I am bored in meetings is to create railway systems. You can see that I am kind of soft in the head about railways.

Die cast Lone Star track and rolling stock

This locomotive I christened "Bournemouth"

and this one "Swanage"

Along with bricks of various kinds and Meccano (I still have and cherish my father's Mecanno set) these Lone Star models were amongst my favourite toys. I do not know why I named one locomotive "Bournemouth" and another "Swanage" but to this day if I hear of or read either place-name I am immediately presented with a mental image of the corresponding Lone Star avatar.

But I digress. What caught my eye today was this travel feature about the Rhaetian Railway. Wow - this is a railway and a half and how I would love to have the money and time to waste to navigate the whole length of it. Google Street View have imaged some of the track - possibly the first and only "Railway View"!

The track gauge is 3 ft 3³⁄₈ in  as opposed to standard gauge of 4 ft 8¹⁄₂ in.

Here's a short video I found...