Flam Railway in Norway

[Tdm]

Apparently this has just been voted No.1 scenic railway journey in the World.
Anybody on here been on it - there are a number of YouTube videos about it, but each one I have looked at so far has been fairly short and doesn't show as much as I would have liked to have seen.

Always fancied taking a trip on the William Tell Express in Switzerland at some time as that looks interesting, but maybe someone could recommend a better railway journey in terms of scenery and comfort.

[CirroCu]

I went on the Flam Railway several years ago as part of a tour of Norway.  The scenery on the Flam is spectacular but you need to choose your day for the weather. I wasn't really into photography in those days but I do have some photos somewhere. I will try to look some out and post them here for you.
As for "scenery and comfort" the Rocky Mountaineer takes some beating but make sure you go from Vancouver to Banff, not the other way round. Closer to home the DB train through the Rhine Valley is well worth while. As are the narrow gauge railways in Austria, like the Zillertall.
Hadn't realised how much "training I 'd done over the years!

[Adam1701D]

I travelled the Flam line back in 1991, so would imagine the stock has changed a bit. Completely spectacular, going from the snow in Myrdal down to sea-level in a very short distance. Incredible waterfalls and scenery to die for.

The Flam line is the worlds' steepest non-rack railway and normally needs an electric loco at each end to provide brake force, as you spiral down the side of a mountain. Once you get towards the bottom, the scenery changes into idyllic green pastures with buildings that look like they could have been made by Faller!

[Malc]

I agree with Terry, the Rocky Mountaineer takes some beating, especially as went Gold Leaf class and had an observation car to sit in. The Harz narrow gauge railways are good, especially the trip up the Broken. The Jungfrau in Switzerland and the Chocolate train are both excellent railway trips.

[Pete @ EGLM]

My wife has lots of cousins in Norway and a couple of years ago we stayed at a cousins house next to the railway at the upper terminus which is Myrdal.  The house was actually the village schoolhouse built for the railway workers children.  The railway has some incredible scenery as it goes up the valley and there are hundreds of vantage points for photography.  We would walk several miles down the valley and then catch the train back to Myrdal, which made for a good day out knowing you didn't have to walk up hill!  They are powered by an electric loco at each end of a rake of coaches.  At Myrdal the main line from Oslo to Bergen passes through and there is quite a bit of freight running on the main line.
The cousin is quite amenable to tourists knocking on his door when the station buffet is closed! 

Pete @ EGLM

[steve836]

The Nilgiri  rly. in India looks good. Am hoping to ride this winter will post some pics. on my return if all goes to plan.

[EtchedPixels]

The Flam railway is great. We went in 2001 and actually ended up going (along with Norwegian hosts) quite early in the year so it was still all snowy.


The usual way to do it is to go from Bergen by train, change at Myrdal and then go down to Flam, join the ferry down the fjords and then a bus forms the final link back to the train to Bergen