The mountain railway line from Banská Bystrica to Dolná Štubňa gives you an interesting experience. You can find it in Slovakia.

In the years 1936-1940, 22 tunnels with a length of 12,211 meters (m) were built on the line. Most of the railway line runs along the slopes of the Great Fatra Mountains at the border with the Low Tatras and Kremnické vrchy. The longest tunnel is the top tunnel no. 14 – with a length of 4698 m.

The opening ceremonial of the building took place on September 28, 1936 on the Banská Bystrica portal of the top tunnel 14 with the participation of the President of the Republic Edvard Beneš and the Minister of Railways Rudolf Bechyňa.

At the time of the highest number of workers (May 1938), 12,339 people worked on the construction of the line. Due to the low accessibility and occupancy of the area adjacent to the railway, 220 workers‘ houses were built (one for 50,100 workers). There were 2,266 accidents during the construction, of which 492 were serious and 35 fatal. In the village of Dolný Harmanec, a memorial was built and still stands in memory of those who died during the construction of the railway. The line leads along the Harmanecká Cave. The grand opening of the track took place on December 19, 1940 in the presence of the highest state officials such as Jozef Tiso and Alexander Mach.

At the end of World War II, most of the viaducts and bridges were destroyed by the retreating Germans, and after their repair, traffic was resumed on March 17, 1946.

Source: https://mybystrica.sme.sk/, Wikipedia

Pictures: Matúš Tuček