Tiefenbach DFB railway station ( gsw, Haltestelle Tiefenbach) is a

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

railway passenger facility, on the eastern side of the Furka Pass, in the

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In the Swiss German dialect, the expression ''Haltestelle'' normally refers to a railway facility without

point Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

s or switches, where scheduled trains are allowed to stop, depart or terminate.

Haltepunkt A railway stop is a spot along a railway line, usually between stations or at a seldom-used station, where passengers can board and exit the train. While a junction or interlocking usually divides two or more lines or routes, and thus has rem ...

, Retrieved 20 July 2010 Tiefenbach is not strictly a facility of that kind, because it is actually a

crossing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

, with a point or switch at each end. Nevertheless, the word ''Haltestelle'' is the expression most often used to describe it, perhaps because for such a rudimentary facility, ''Haltestelle'' seems more appropriate than ''Bahnhof''. Between 1926 and 1981, Tiefenbach formed part of the

Furka Oberalp Bahn The Furka Oberalp Railway (german: link=no, Furka Oberalp Bahn) is a narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of . It runs in the Graubünden, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003, it is part of the Matterhorn Gott ...

(FO). The portion of the FO on which it is located was then replaced by the

Furka Base Tunnel The Furka Base Tunnel is a Swiss railway base tunnel on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn's Furka–Oberalp line, an east-west railway connecting the cantons of Valais and Uri. Its west portal lies east of Oberwald (VS), at above sea level and its ...

in 1982. Since being reopened in 1992, Tiefenbach has been owned and operated by a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

, the

Furka Steam Railway The Furka Steam Railway (german: Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke (DFB)) is a largely volunteer-operated heritage railway which operates a partially rack and pinion-operated line across the Furka Pass, between Realp in Canton of Uri, Uri and Oberwald ...

(german: Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke) (DFB).

History and description

Tiefenbach was first opened in 1926. Nominally, it serves the village of Tiefenbach UR, which consists essentially of the ''Hotel Tiefenbach'' and some outbuildings. However, the village is located on the Furka Pass road, about higher in altitude than the railway halting point. The back of the Tiefenbach station building is built into the side of the mountain, to give the building some protection from the annual avalanches. For that reason, only the façade of the station building is visible. Between 1926 and 1981, Muttbach-Belvédère was owned and operated by the FO, which connects

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

, via Andermatt in Uri, with Göschenen, Uri, and Disentis/Mustér, Graubünden. In 1982, the original portion of the FO between Oberwald in Valais and Realp in Uri, including Muttbach-Belvédère, was replaced by an FO line passing through the then new Furka Base Tunnel. The superseded portion of the FO line was abandoned. Since , the abandoned portion of the FO line has been progressively reopened from Realp, as a heritage railway operated by the DFB. The first portion to be reopened was the section between Realp and Tiefenbach. On , the DFB was extended from its then temporary terminus at Tiefenbach to Furka, which is further up the DFB line. It has since been further extended, and will shortly be extended again. Immediately to the west of Tiefenbach, westbound trains operating on the DFB line begin an 11.0% climb towards Furka, with the assistance of an Abt rack rail system.

References

Notes

External links

Furka Steam Railway

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn

Official timetable of Switzerland
* {{SBB web, 8982 Railway stations in the canton of Uri Railway stations in Switzerland opened in 1926

History and description

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

External links