Within easy reach of Tirano, up the Val Poschiavo valley, is Brusio, just over the border in Switzerland, so that was my other target, walking across the invisible border on the Via Albula Bernina path from my base in Tirano.

I was quite taken by the idea of "mortal fulguration" from touching the overhead wires:

A little way up the valley lies Campocologno, a crossing point on the single line, here with two St Moritz/TIrano trains each consisting of Allegra EMUs towing additional coaches:

Campocologno also has a goods yard, filled mostly with tankers when I was there, and plenty of logs stacked up. A larger diesel shunter too:

Of course the point of the walk was the circular, or strictly speaking helical, viaduct at Brusio, here with a Bernina Express squealing its way downhill:

Built to flatten out the gradient in the steep valley, apparently a spiral tunnel was out of the question because of the brittle rock. Here's a panned shot with me standing in the middle and shuffling round in a circle. More log wagons on the back of this one:

And here's a Bernina Express coming downhill, with obligatory Swiss Tourist Board cow:

When I left for the north, I filmed it from the wide-opening windows of the train:

Just above the viaduct are some stone igloos called crot or scele, used to keep foodstuffs cool in summer by running water underneath. One of the entrances was open and I got a distinct rush of cold air from it, so these are still functional.

Higher still is Brusio station itself:

after which the line spirals away up the hillside. Here, you can just about make out the viaduct fractionally to the left of the front of this train:

I'd not seen that many photos of the viaduct that put it in its setting, and seeing it for real brings home just how much climbing the train has to do here.

It also seems to be a lingustically ambivalent area - the station names look Italian, but I saw a German sign by some beehives saying beware of the bees. Further north, the Germanic-looking Alp Grüm station cafe was owned by Italian speakers who of course also knew German.

So after a bit of a trek, I caught the train (request stop - press the button) back to the historic centre of Tirano for more food: ravioli with pear, parma ham and parmesan plus Bavarian beer. Seemed appropriate. I did catch some Italian TV in the B&B - almost as bad as Chanel 9 on the Fast Show.