In Part 5 we are going to look at the line as it goes from Oberwald to Brig, still running on the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn. Oberwald is where the Furka-Basistunnel deviation of 1982 joins with the original line over Furkapass which is now operated as a steam heritage railway, Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke. Their full opening to Oberwald was completed recently, August 2010.
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This journey is taking place entirely within the narrow steep sided Rhone valley. Leaving Oberwald the line is for some distance following a channelised river which is eventually allowed to resume more traditional banks. The line is somewhat lacking in geographical challenges until getting past Selkingen when a tunnel is encountered. After Niederwald the valley narrows still more. There is a steady, easy descent to Fürgangen after which two sweeping horseshoe curves are employed to get the line down the final 100 metres declination into Fiesch.
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From Fiesch the route is continuing in the valley and just past Lax it is hugging the side of the river gorge with a curved bridge needed to get it across a ravine. Grades are steepening at this point and it appears the rack is used as the line continues descending and encountering a spiral Kerhtunnel section on the approach to Ze Brigge. A viaduct is located at the foot of this tunnel.
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Just out of Betten Dorf another viaduct is crossed with its central arch bridging the highway and river. The valley then becomes very narrow with barely room for the road and the railway track. Progress from here is somewhat unspectacular until reaching Brig, which is the junction of various lines (including the famed Simplon Tunnel) and has a large marshalling yard on the south side of the river. The Furka-Oberalp-Bahn used to pass this yard on the north bank before it turned through 180 degrees to enter Brig at the south/west end after crossing the river and passing under the main lines. At the time of writing this, the Google Earth coverage was dated 1997 and still shows this route (now closed). However since the merging of the FOB with the Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn that formed the MGB, the line in 2007 was taken into Brig directly from the north/east eliminating the level crossings in the north bank section and making Brig into a through station rather than a terminus.
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