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Crocodile Winter
Swiss metre gauge "Crocodile" locos and others on the Albula line of the Rhaetian Rly on mixed and goods trains in brilliant sunshine among the snow covered mountains and villages of the Swiss Alps. The Rhaetian Railway must truly be Switzerland's most loved railway. It has the highest in-the-open main line crossing the alps, and is the home of the famous 60 year old "crocodiles", CC type electric locos with siderod drive.
The video gives us an excellent coverage of the locos and of the country they inhabit, the Albula line, a section of which has a ruling grade of 1:28. In addition there are quite beautiful scenes which include other types of trains, from a Swiss Federal Railway passenger train where that line parallels the Rhaetian, to other Rhaetian trains, both loco hauled with GE4/4 1 and GE4/4 2, and multiple unit electric, which have motor coaches so powerful they are virtually locomotives with passenger accommodation! Much of the railway runs from ac power at 16 2/3 Hz, and one effect of this very low frequency may be seen in the video with the flicker of some of the signal lamps. But the crocodiles are the main feature, with good close-ups of the "works", roof equipment, and inside the drivers cab.
There is a driver's view cab ride over much of the line, with its spiral tunnels and loops, with helpful diagrams of the track occasionally superimposed. The crocodiles have a quite distinctive sound, which has been captured. There are views from the rear of the train and many lineside views from every angle, in scenery from grass covered and snow-free, to snow covered alps, mountain streams, castle ruins and spotlessly clean and bright Swiss mountain villages looking like "Faller" models!
Of course the famous Landwasser Viaduct is well covered; trains, after crossing this curved, 200 ft high masterpiece in engineering, go straight into a tunnel like a hole in a wall! In the winter, some places can only be reached by train, and the road becomes a toboggan run. The crocodiles will most certainly soon cease hauling regular freight and mixed trains, and will be preserved for special working only, and this may be the last time they have been captured in regular service on top quality video.
The major costs in releasing overseas videos in Australia are master tape, royalties, and distribution. These costs are the same irrespective of whether the tape is one hour or 40 minutes, therefore while the video is a little shorter than the usual EK Videos, unfortunately it has to be at the same price. Some compensation may be that there are some very interesting previews at the end, bringing the total time up to nearly 50 minutes. PQ A