Past and present
Good ideas always appear obvious with the benefit of hindsight. But the notion of building a mountain railway in the Grison / Graubünden region still continues to inspire us with its audacity. This is because of the miraculous way in which the Rhaetian Railway manages to combine a beautiful landscape, the power of technology and the benefits of joined-up thinking.
Many bright ideas lose their initial spark and pass into history as time goes by. But the inspired genius of our mountain railway still astounds even now. Indeed, the organisation that came about because of this initial inspiration has now turned into a living cultural monument. Our staff of more than 1,300 persons works to ensure that the Rhaetian Railway will carry on enhancing the ancient culture of our region, while connecting people in the most pleasant way possible and making certain that the railway continues to find a true harmony between all aspects of technology and nature.
The idea of building a mountain railway in the Grisons / Graubünden region first arose in 1888. Thanks to the initiative of a Dutchman named Willem-Jan Holsboer, the narrow-gauge railway company Schmalspurbahn Landquart–Davos AG was founded. The ceremonial first sod of turf was cut in that same year, and steam trains began to ply the route from Landquart up to Davos in 1890.
“Precipitously struggling ever upwards, with no end apparently in sight”, is how the famous author Thomas Mann described a journey up into the “holy phantasmagorical world of towering summits”.
Just a quarter of a century after construction work started, the track network was virtually finished. And the Rhaetian Railway has been offering unforgettable experiences of the elements every since with views of towering mountain landscapes that teeter on the line between beautiful and terrifying – all from the comfort of a train carriage. And just as the winding tracks up the mountains are as impressively daring as they always have been, so are the pitch-black tunnels through which you pass before bursting suddenly into daylight to contemplate yet more magnificent Alpine views.
This is how the Rhaetian Railway makes its contribution to the continuing cultural history of the region, by ensuring that the inspired inventiveness of our forebears continues in our own time to shrink distances between places and bring people together, just as it did in times past. Not even the age of globalisation can turn the Rhaetian Railway into yet another bland and uninspiring part of the service sector, dedicated to the simple task of moving people from A to B, with nothing to look forward to but arriving at their destination. A ride on the Rhaetian Railway is more than just a train journey – it is an historical experience, but one that manages to remain in felicitous harmony with the present.
