The endless serpentine traveled 25 kilometers in less than 45 minutes between Preda and Alvaneu, in the Swiss Alps, crossing “more than 700 meters of vertical drop”crossing in particular “two spiral tunnels” and borrowing “the famous Landwasser viaduct”recount Time.
Seven mechanics were at the controls and 150 passengers were seated in the bright red cars. The Albula railway line, used by this one-day train, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“So as not to overload the network”the 3,000 ton monster “drove at a reduced speed of 30 to 35 km/h”precise Time. According to Renato Fasciati, director of the Rhaetian Railways (RhB), the train was comparable to a “mobile power station”most “the world record attempt consumed no more energy than a normal day of RhB operation”.
If the experience – which marked the 175th anniversary of the Swiss railway system – was short-lived, collectors will soon be able to remember the feat: a model train manufacturer has promised to reproduce the record train and market it.
The record was approved on Saturday by Guinness World Records. The precedent had been established in Belgium in the 1990s.