Gotthard railway model

To mark the inauguration of the Swiss Museum of Transport in 1959, the railway and model railway enthusiasts of Lucerne built a model representing the Gotthard north access ramp between Erstfeld and Wassen. They put in around 30,000 hours of voluntary work.

Ascending the mounting through helical tunnels – the Gotthard railway model shows Erstfeld station, the two imposing bridges over the Chärstelenbach and the Intschireuss and finally the three helical tunnels near Wassen.

The model does not show the motorway since it depicts the landscape as it was around the end of the 1950s.
However, the locomotives and carriages making up the model trains are in some cases considerably newer.

The Swiss Museum of Transport is grateful to the railway and model railway enthusiasts of Lucerne for the newly designed 2007 Gotthard railway model in the rail transport hall as well as for its loving and expert maintenance. The show runs every hour and lasts 8 minutes.

Technical data
Surface area of the model: 5.6 x 13 m
Max. gradient 26 ‰
Height difference 1,49 m
Total track length 350 m
Min. curve radius 70 cm
No. of points 70
No. of block sections 18
Max. track capacity 16


/ This is from their website /
In the courtyard of the museum was a small railroad (I hope it is still there now?)