It just came up on the MSNBC website that they just broke through on the 35.4 mile long Gotthard Base Tunnel. Anybody got a tunnel that long on their layout?
EDIT: I guess they broke through yesterday . . . . . . . . . . it just took MSNBC about 16 hours to decide that there is something of significantly more importance than what the stars are wearing in their fall wardrobes.
Let’s see: In HO scale that would be 4/10 of a mile long.
Let me go measure my garage and see if it would fit…
Holy cow! That’s a long tunnel for sure!
Maybe someone here could break the HO record for a tunnel? LOL
Ah, nuts! And the old Gotthard Line was some of the most spectacular mountain railroading I’ve ever seen. Does this mean that when the new tunnel is complete the old line gets abandoned? Sure hope not–that was one mind-boggling train trip!
Tom [:^)]
Lets have a contest…
Who can hold their breath all the way thru the tunnel? Loser buys lunch!
For the winner’s estate?
On a more practical note, the tunnel has holed through. Now all (all???) they have to do is finish the other bores, stabilize the tunnel, complete the lining, complete the ventilation system…
Oh, yeah. They also have to lay, align and secure the rails.
Also in breaking news, on NHK’s Japanese-language newscast, the Tokyo-Nagoya maglev route has broken ground. Route completion is expected in 5 or 6 years - 350-plus kilometers, mostly underground. I wonder how long the longest tunnel on that route will be.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
It’s not scheduled for completion until 2017 so those of you who want to ride the old Gotthard Tunnel have at least six summers in which to do it.
… and even a little longer!
The “old” Gotthard line is a World Heritage Site and will remain open for local service.
Some pics:
I took the train from Zurich to Venice and back on a trip once. Is that the Gotthard line? The trip was absolutely stunning. I remember going past the same church three times, each time we were higher up the mountain. It’s a train trip that I would very much like to repeat. The food and service were incredible.
Brent
Yes, it was.
The church you mentioned is the little church of Wassen, a small town which is circled by the Gotthard line three times in order to gain height.
The train on the picture is about to enter a tunnel, just below the church. He will appear again out of the tunnel a little to the right above the church.
Thanks Ulrich. That’s the one. I spent Five weeks in Zurich with a beautiful Swiss girl I had met in New Zealand six months earlier on a previous trip. We took lots of trips in all directions including Venice while I was there. She thought it was weird that I would comment on the details of the wonderful rail system Europe has. Lots of good memories.
Oh to be young again.[(-D]
Brent
If there is one railroad minded country in the world, it´ll be Switzerland. In all of the western world, the Swiss are the most active train users. They are really proud of having the largest model railroad in the world!
Btw, I share the same fond memories - that was long before I met my wife, to whom I am now married for over 26 years [;)]