Arosa-Bahn - Heading for the Clouds

Arosa-Bahn - Heading for the Clouds

A bit of “time travel” on the Rhätische Bahn’s Chur-Arosa Line in Switzerland’s Canton Graubünden.

I have enjoyed riding the Arosa Line on two separate occasions. Both trips began in photo-perfect alpine autumn weather, the first in October 1994, the more recent in October 2010. This photo was taken on that first ride in ’94. On that occasion, as can be seen, the autumn sunshine was soon to give way to chilly mists as we climbed toward the holiday village of Arosa (1,775 m/5,823 ft), which sat that afternoon at the bottom of the cloud layer.

Those familiar with the route will most likely recognize the scenery as the train climbs toward Arosa,
but the RhB train enthusiast will immediately spot something “different” at the head of the train.

In 1994, the trains were pulled by DC-powered railcars, as seen here. Three years later, the line was re-powered to the alternating current used by most of the Rhätische Bahn, which means that the Arosa trains are now pulled by mainline locomotives (with a control cab car at the “Chur” end of the trains)

This image, from an original color slide, was taken with a Canon EOS-1 using a 28-80mm L-Series lens.

It is available in archival gallery prints and as a custom printed Photo Note Card.

Photo, Narrative, and Design ©1994/2011 Steve Ember