There are 3 types of transport used to get to the Emosson Dam in Switzerland from ground level. This is a picture of the first transport - the Barberine Funicular tram at rest at the bottom, near Chatalard Gietroz railway station. It is just an aluminium box really that makes a wonderful noise as it travels. The track looks quite steep here, but you can also see that the tram is leaning to the left - this is because the track gets incredibly steep (see next photo). It was built when the Barberine Dam was being constructed (which is now some 40 metres under water due to the larger Emosson Dam being built). Behind is the electricity generating station housing great turbines that receive water down from the Emosson reservoir.

Now this is what I call a steep railway track.This is looking up the first stage of the Barberine Funicular The track at its steepest gradient is 87% - reportedly the steepest in the world You can see the track disappearing in to a rock tunnel at the top of the picture - it then carries on up - pulled by great steel ropes. there are 2 'trams' which pass each other halfway up the journey. It is incredible!

Another photo of the Barberine Funicular - this is showing the crossover point on the journey where the track splits into 2 to allow the 2 'trams' to pass each other. It is still incredibly steep here.

This is a photo of the final stage of transportation to the Emosson Dam (which you can see in the background) and is the Emosson Minifunic - a relatively new system opened in 1991. There is a short MPEG video available here which shows the Minifunic in action. It is 27 seconds long and it is approximately 1 MB in size (format is 192x144 pixels). Click on this MINIFUNIC link to watch the video if you have a suitable MPEG player installed, or right click on the link and choose "save target as" or equivalent function (depending on your internet browser) to download and save to your hard drive.

This is an internet photo of the scenery surrounding the Emosson reservoir and dam. Taken in summer with a full reservoir due to melted snow - in winter the water level drops significantly and tends to ice over.

An aerial photo of the Lac du Vieux Emosson and dam - not far from the Emosson dam. Taken from a high altitude it shows the lake and dam in all their glory. If you ever visit Chamonix, do take a train to Le Chatalard Gietroz and go and see these wonderful sights.