Italy's 'Trans-Siberian' railway is chugging along once again

ROCCARASO, Italy - Destroyed first by the Nazis and then by government cuts, Italy's very own "Trans-Siberian" railway has reopened thanks to the work of hobbyists, taking travelers back in time through the snowy Abruzzo mountains.

Today, lovingly restored, almost 100-year-old carriages take tourists along the 120-kilometer line from Rome to the Roccaraso ski resort to the east, passing over countless precarious viaducts.

The Sulmona-Roccaraso section, reaching an altitude of 1,269 meters at its highest point, was opened in 1897 and is a feat of engineering, winding its way up the steep, rocky mountainside in a series of long, elegant loops.