Stavem Switchback Tunnel
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This switchback tunnel is 1340 meters long, and over this kilometer, the train makes a 180-degree turn. Creating a horseshoe-shaped switchback tunnel in the 1920âs was an incredible feat of engineering. The workers started by digging holes at both ends, and it had to be dug within a precise margin of error to ensure the ends met in the middle of the mountain. All calculations were done with pen and paper, and it took nine years to build the tunnel. There is a local legend that says when it was close to breakthrough at the midpoint in the mountain, that the engineer got so nervous that he took his own life. But when the breakthrough came, the deviation was only a few centimeters. By comparison, similar tunnels can be built today with considerably larger deviations, even with todayâs modern technology.