The Glacier Express crosses the 65-metre-high Landwasser Viaduct on Rhaetian Railway's Albula-Bernina Line in Switzerland, part of a new UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Sun Media/Doug English)

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Mention legendary rail journeys and several spring to mind: Canada's Rocky Mountaineer, Russia's Trans Siberian, and the Ghan, which crosses some of Australia's vast emptiness.

Yet none of these has received the recognition bestowed earlier this year on a relatively unknown one in Switzerland, that of UNESCO World Heritage Site. That designation went to Rhaetian Railway, the largest alpine railway in Europe, its Albula-Bernina route, and the landscape through which it passes.

The route, between Thusis, Switzerland, and Tirano, just over the border in Italy, crosses the Alps in two places. The landscape that shares the designation is dazzling.

The Albula portion, in eastern Switzerland, opened in 1904 and bores through mountains. It's only 67 km long but features 42 tunnels and covered galleries and 144 viaducts and bridges.

The 61-km Bernina line runs over high alpine passes and was conceived as a tourist train right from the start, more than a century ago. Engineers, conscious of the need to provide the best-possible views, built only 13 tunnels but constructed 52 viaducts and bridges.

I spent a memorable day last fall riding both lines.

The Bernina Express took us from the jet-set ski resort of St. Moritz past the highest point on the Bernina line, Ospizio Bernina, at 2,253 metres. Through the big, curved coach windows was a spectacular combination of mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, and raging streams.

Our turnaround point was Alp Grum station, which offers panoramic views of the Palu Glacier -- or does when the weather co-operates. We arrived in rain and mist, but did catch a glimpse when the sun emerged briefly before we had to head back.

It was all blue skies by the time we reached the Albula line and two of the most dramatic views of the day.

From Survava, post buses took us to the base of the Landwasser Viaduct. It's 136 metres long, built of stone, and sits on 65-metre-high pillars. There we waited, cameras poised, until the Glacier Express, which Rhaetian also operates, burst out of a tunnel, slowed and stopped in the middle of the viaduct.

The second highlight was the Viamala Gorge, near Thusis, whose sheer, 300-metre-high rocky walls prompted philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to remark: "I shall write nothing about the terrible magnificence of the Viamala Gorge, which makes me feel as if I had never really known Switzerland."

Rhaetian Railway offers a variety of rail experiences year round.

From early May to mid-October, for example, you can board the Bernina Express at either Chur, Davos Dorf or St. Moritz and travel to Tirano. A second-class return ticket this year cost from 58 to 114 francs (about $62 to $122), depending on your starting point, plus an advance seat registration fee.

For details on rail adventures, visit rhb.ch and click on E at the top right for the English version.