Railway Wonders Of The World
 

1. Transiberian line Moscow to Vladivostock
2. Tibet link from China
3. Trans-Australia lines Melbourne/Sydney - Hobart/Perth
4. Chicago- S.Francisco lines (UP and SF, now Amtrak)
5. Lima-Oroya in Peru
6. Capetown-Johannesburg/Pretoria - S.Africa
7. Glacier Express Andermatt-St.Moritz - Switzerland
These are my favourite. Please send your contribution!
Hi Folks,
I make myself alive with this proposal.
I ask: if there has been a quest for the new seven wonders of the world, followed by the quest for the natural wonders of the world, why not launch a quest for the seven railway wonders of the world.
I hope this proposal can put this Forum, as the promoter of this quest, to the forefront of the most visited sites. I hereby ask the webmaster to launch links on the internet and invite railfans to join in this particular issue.
Before any proposal is made, I mention the Railways which are within the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and which therefore are outsiders:
Austria - The Semmering Pass Railway
India - The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway opened in 1881, and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, completed in 1908
Italy - Indirectly, the Railway lines in these heritage sites: Val d'Orcia which hosts "Treno-Natura", Portovenere and the five Lands, which are connected by rail and not by road, the historic centres of Rome, Florence, Naples, Siena.
Other Countries - Any site which has railway line inside.
My first proposal for a Railway Wonder and Engineering Achievement is the Railway of the Krasnoyark Shipyard in Russia, 9-metre gauge (that's 30 feet), the vehicle being a water filled basin going uphill! Have a look at it on the parovoz.com site.
Have your say - Cheers from Dario

Well, the Forth Bridge would have o been in there for a start. And the Channel Tunnel come to think of it. And what about St Pancras Station.

Oh, and obviously the East Lancs... ;)

I would say the Channel Tunnel as well (and the Spa Valley Railway ;))

What about the Settle & Carlisle?

The "Krasnoyarsk HEP ship transloader" mentioned in Darios post is certainly an impressive device although I'm not sure if many of us would regard it as being a railway in the normal sense of the word.
At the risk of being unpatriotic I can't really think of anything rail-related in the U.K. that warrants Wonder of the World status other than perhaps the Forth Bridge or Channel Tunnel.
My nomination would be the 125 year old Swiss Gotthard Railway between Erstfeld and Bodio which carries in excess of 200 trains per day. It has gradients of 1 in 37/38, dozens of bridges and tunnels including 7 spirals and a 15km summit tunnel.

The nomination of the Gotthard Railway, as Swisstrains puts it, is self-explanatory as to what is a Railway Wonder.
My mention (The "Krasnoyarsk HEP ship transloader") was rather a provocation.
Of course the Forth Bridge is well known as a Railway Wonder, and the Channel Tunnel too.
I can think of many railways worldwide (particularly in Australia and New Zealand, and Switzerland) which deserve a mention.
By the way, the Jungfrau railways in Switzerland are an outsider, falling within the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn World Heritage Site.
Cheers from Dario

The Zig-Zag Railway in Australia.

And several of a similar ilk in South America. The channel tunnel? Haven't the Japanese got an even longer undersea tunnel between two of their islands now or isn't it open yet?

Mike

About the zig-zag railways in Australia and Peru. The former (in New South Wales) was replaced by a continuous route, while the latter still exists.

The Seikan Tunnel in Japan is several years (over 20?) older than the Channel Tunnel but to cape-gauge initially (not sure whether twin bore for double track). It was then equipped with two external rails for standard gauge but trains are still restricted as regards the smaller structure gauge.

I would consider the whole high speed link from London St Pancras (minus 17 days from today) to the interconnections near Lille in France and thence to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam as a Railway Wonder.

I would like to mention that I consider all the rail-enthusiasts' enterprises as Railway Wonders, so the field for a special mention is restricted to common carrier operations, as well as industrial operations (e.g. the Rheinbraun coal-railway electrified at 6 kV/50 Hz and 35-t axle-load).

Cheers from Dario

I would like to add the Albula Railway in Switzerland of course.
The Viznau Rigi Railway for finding a unique way for climbing mountains.
The Brienz Rothorn Railway in Switzerland, mountain steam survives with 100+ years old Locomotives
The narrow guage system along the north coast of Spain.
London Paddington to Penzance.Brunel's railway.
West Highland Railway.Incredible inhospitable and wild topography.
The Ffestiniog in tribute to the way the preservationist have given this line a new history. overcame the distruption caused by a new Damn by building an open spiral and are now forging the re-building of the Welsh Highland Line.

I would say the Channel Tunnel, the Lotschberg (sp) tunnel in Switzerland (which is the longest land tunnel in the world) and the A4 class of steam loco, still the fastest in the world.

I'm pleased to see all these Swiss suggestions:D

Thanks to Albula and Macmatt for their proposals and for the motivations.
Of course, as far as Switzerland is concerned, we could add the Rhaetian Alps network, which has also applied to UNESCO as Heritage Site.
I would be careful to add any modern engineering wonder such as tunnels and high-speed lines.
Now the new Loetschberg base tunnel is an engineering wonder more than a historical railway wonder.
The Channel Tunnel and the Great Belt link and the Oresund link between Denmark and Sweden have broken the isolation of the respective Countries, and created an enlarged European Raiway Network.
Bye from Dario

Here is my list of seven favourite railway wonders.
1. Transiberian line Moscow to Vladivostock
2. Tibet link from China
3. Trans-Australia lines Melbourne/Sydney - Hobart/Perth
4. Chicago- S.Francisco lines (UP and SF, now Amtrak)
5. Lima-Oroya in Peru
6. Capetown-Johannesburg/Pretoria - S.Africa
7. Glacier Express Andermatt-St.Moritz - Switzerland
Ciao from Dario

Thanks to the 378 viewers so far which make this the most popular thread.
Ciao from Dario

Raurimu Spiral, New Zealand. Still very much in use.
Another way of gaining height, similar feat as the ZigZag Railway achieved.
Great piece of engineering skill when the New Zealand main trunk line was being first built .
The Main Trunk was completed in 1908.
Actually, I came across this Railway Forum list by chance, as I was searching to see if there was a book or DVD about great railway engineering
feats. Looks like either one might be of interest to many people.
AMC

Welcome to the Forum AMC. Look forward to more posts from you.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

Any heritage railway built or rebuilt by volunteers.
Richard

can't be bothered to think of 7, but I'm surprised these haven't been mentioned

West Highland line
MOB ascent out of Montreux
northern Spain narrow gauge

Yes, the Raurimu Spiral is certainly a feat of engineering. :D It's electrified these days.

hi
 

hi trev, the station cat feargal looks so sweet. please stroke him/her for me.
i'm sort of new

Squeaky88 :)

I didn't realise that the station cat was one of the railway wonders of the world ...:rolleyes:

i know
 

i realise its not exactly relevant, but i love cats. Plus railway cats have responsibilities such as keeping passengers entertained and being fluffy for people to make a fuss of!


Squeaky88 ;)

Also I should add most of the viaducts of the North Island Main Trunk Line. :D

The (now disused) Maria Pia bridge spanning the River Douro in Porto, and the roundhouse at Chambery (France) - both designed by Gustav Eiffel. Limoges Benedictin station. And what about the London Underground system?