Way up in the highest inhabited place in Europe, the only railway in Avers transports neither passengers nor goods. The Gartenbahn Avers was built by Bruno Pedrini of Graubünden out of his love for railways. Being deaf from birth, communicating with him was not easy, thankfully, his roommates happily translated for me.
At first, I thought he bought his train carriages from a shop. Turns out, all the passenger carriages are handmade and handprinted by Bruno himself in a well-organised workshop in his garage. There are over 180 meters of track around his house on roundabout viaducts, serpentine turns, and even in tunnels.
He has fully utilised the sloping landscape around his house to make the railway reflect the realities of Switzerland as much as possible. The level of detail is uncanny, he has even installed stone arches around then entrances to his hand-dug tunnels. The next nearest house is on the other side of the road, so only time can tell how far his trains will one day travel.
If you would like to visit, just drive up the road towards Juf until you see a house with a model railway around it to the eastern side of the road. You can’t miss it. Better yet, if you love it so much that you want to spend more time there you can even stay at Bruno’s house as he runs a cozy bed and breakfast.
Bruno and his trains 
Workshop 
