The Viaducts of Srebrna Góra

The two brick viaducts above the slopes of Srebrna Góra are the best-known keepsake of the Sowie Mountains Railway — a 62 km line running from Dzierżoniów through Pieszyce, Bielawa, Srebrna Góra, Wolibórz and Słupiec to Ścinawka Średnia. Construction began in 1897 and proceeded in stages; the railway was to carry coal from the mines in Słupiec and Nowa Ruda to Dzierżoniów, while also serving tourists.

The hardest section of the line

The Srebrna Góra–Wolibórz stretch required two massive structures: the Żdanowski viaduct, 24 m high, and the Srebrnogórski viaduct, 28 m high, with a combined length of 260 m. On the approach to Przełęcz Srebrna the gradient reached 6%, so 6.6 km of double-headed rack rail was laid — to this day the only rack railway within Poland's present borders.

The end of the line and what remains

The story of the mountain section ended quickly: in 1933–1934 the tracks between Wolibórz and Srebrna Góra were dismantled. What remained are massive brick arches, today among the most photographed structures in the Sowie Mountains. The site is accessible around the clock, and nearby (0.6 km) looms the Srebrna Góra Fortress, a Prussian stronghold of 1765–1777, so the trip is easy to plan as one outing.