Night fall down in the upper Valais. Our view is from the newly (in September of this year) opened section of the hiking trail " Lötschberg Südrampe " between Lalden and Brig, about 200 meters above the valley floor, down to Brig (right) and Naters (left), divided by the river Rhone (which is called “Rotten” here in the German-speaking part of the Valais) and Ried on the mountainside. In the background from the left Klein Huwetz (2838 m), Fülhorn und Folluhorn mountains, on the right Wasenhorn (3245 m). The light on the mountain’s crest probably comes from the mountain restaurant Fleschbode. In the town of Brig you can see the collegium church and the Stockalper palace.
The extensive trackage field of the transport node and border station to Italy, Brig, is characterized by the warm glow of track lighting. In the upper left corner of these track layout is the portal of the 19,8 kilometer long Simplon Railway tunnel from 1906/1921 (two single bores) to Iselle in Italy. Brig is starting and terminating point oft the SBB passenger trains to Geneva, Basel, Romanshorn and Domodossola (Italy) and of the RegioExpress „Lötschberger“ of the BLS over the mountain line to Berne. Car transporting trains are rolling through the Simplon tunnel to Iselle. Freight trains often change drivers or simply wait for a slot to Italy. About 400 standard gauge trains are passing the station a day, which has about 200 switches and 130 main signals. Next to the station building on the right, on the station square, you can see a train of the 1 meter gauge Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn, which makes the connection to Zermatt and the Goms Valley towards Andermatt. During the 120-second exposure a RegioExpress " Lötschberger " of the BLS leaves the station via the Rhone bridge in the foreground towards the Lötschberg mountain route to Goppenstein, Kandersteg, Frutigen, Spiez, Thun and Berne and draws a light trail in the darkness. Now, it has become bitterly cold up on the mountain slope. An hour later , the photographer sat in the warmth of the double-deck dining car of an InterCity 2000, enjoying a hot meal and a glass of wine , traveling without change in 2 3/4 h across Switzerland back to his hometown .
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
