Riffelalp Tram – September 12, 2014

I've just gotten back the scans of the slides I took on the trip Clare and I made to Switzerland in September. I've received a number of questions about the trip, but it will take me quite awhile to write a full report. In summary, we had a great time and experienced mostly fine weather.

This trip was an opportunity to ride a number of lines that I hadn't in the past, many of which are somewhat obscure and seasonal. Among them is the short battery-operated tramway that connects the Gornergrat Railway with the Riffelalp Hotel. Of course, I've attached some of the photos I took on Friday, September 12. I hope you enjoy seeing them.

The hotel is located at an altitude of 7,290 feet, and so the line is probably the highest tramway in the world. It is operated by battery, and is a 2001 reincarnation of an electrified line abandoned in 1961 after the first hotel on the site was destroyed by fire. The 800-mm gauge operation is only about 4 tenths of a mile long (2,215 feet) and runs alongside a path, which we walked up, as we arrived prior to the start of the daily regular service, about 11 o'clock. With the connecting railway operating on a 24-minute headway, the tram does the same, meeting all trains during its period of operation. We returned on the tram, and were charged a 2.5-franc fare. Photos below and two on the next page.

The two-car Rifflelap tram at the hotel. Since the lash-up is double-ended, the "train" can reverse ends (which it must do at its junction with the Zermatt- Gornergrat railway) or travel around the loop in front of the hotel's outdoor cafe.

If you think the setting is great from the first few photos, here are the clinchers. The Matterhorn is shown behind the tram on the loop (above) and at the station in front of the hotel's entrance (below).

I can't help spoiling the mood by adding people to the mix, namely me and Clare.