by a 146-metre-long concrete bridge further downstream. The latest bridge also serves the road to Kalpetran. With the opening of a new rail section here totalling 1.2 km, the last 80 metre radius curves remaining on the open line were eliminated. A few metres behind the Kipfenbrücke the second rack section begins. The next part of the route, through the Kipfenschlucht, is considered to be the most scenic portion of the entire line. The railway and the Vispa run here in a most confined space, adjacent to each other. This whole section has been repeatedly damaged by flooding and avalanches, sometimes severely. To avoid further damage, the Vispa has therefore been increasingly regulated since the end of the 19th century, and the line formation protected by solid masonry. In the middle of the gorge, the fully automatic crossing point at Kipferwald was set up in 1999. The upper end of the Kipfenschlucht is marked by the Sellibrücke, on which the Vispa is crossed for the third time. Shortly thereafter, the racks and the formation travel along the right side of the widening valley to St. Niklaus, at 1126 metres above sea level. Since Stalden, a total of 327 m in altitude have been climbed. St. Niklaus–Randa The St. Niklaus station extends along the western edge of the town, and has two platform tracks and a siding with a loading dock. The station building represents a standard type, which can also be found in similar form in Täsch. St Niklaus station is the terminus of the post bus line to the holiday resort of Grächen, which extends on a plateau along the left side of the valley, and is connected with the valley by meandering road. Shortly after St Niklaus station, the next rack section starts. This leads up to the Blattbachtunnel, a 130-metre-long avalanche protection structure erected in 1931. The original uncovered stretch of line at this point had to be abandoned, as the railway bridge over the Blattbach had been destroyed many times by avalanches and flooding since it was first constructed. To circumvent the problem area, a tunnel vault was created in open cut form, and then covered with earth. At the same time, and by the same means, the exit of the third rack rail section could be protected from bad weather. In connection with that tunnel, the line moves once again into the valley, and passes