Period film from the end of steam in Italy

I found this whilst looking for something else.

MORTE DI UNA LOCOMOTIVA - YouTube

An interesting film showing the fate of many of Italy's steam engines, some real gems in there too. For a while there were a few locos abandoned in Bari which is ironic as it's pronounced similar to Barry.

 

What a gem of a short! Only the Italians (or possibly the French) could come up with such an arty and poignant film on the demise of steam. Interesting to see tram loco's and an S160 still displaying 'USA' on the tender. And course, even though we knew it was coming, the final scene still tugs at the heart strings. Interesting garb they were wearing though - was the final scene filmed at a much later date perhaps?

B-T-W, how many ex-mainline loco's are the preserved in Italy?

 

Steam lasted in Italy until '73, but after '71 there was very little mainline activity. I guess those clothes are motorcyle gear from around that era.

Preserved steam in Italy is a bit of a strange concept. There are still quite a number 'stored' around the country and regions have their own 'pet' steam loco which may steam every now and again. The stored locos vary in condition from they look as though they dropped the fire yesterday to absolute rust buckets. Privately owned main line locos are rare and usually static exhibits.
There is an unrestored S160 here in Turin which still has the USA markings clearly showing under the rust on the tender.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/FS_736.086_fronte.JPG
I have not found a definitive list yet of surviving steam locos and I keep thinking about starting an index, one day...

 

What an incredible little film! There were some real gems in that scrapline - loved the tram engine and early Austrian tank loco. Thanks for posting. Regards Ray.
p.s. Try this link for a list of surviving F.S. steam - http://www.steamlocomotive.info/country.cfm?which=italy

 

Very beautiful quite a gem! (Italians are a people with a sharp sense of aesthetics) but so heart breaking!
regards
Noel

 

Thanks for that link
Regards

Adrian

 

Technically, FS haven't actually finished using steam yet!

Italian Railway Heritage and Preservation shows the last steam hauled services in 1976 in Tuscany, which I've seen mentioned elsewhere. There are also photos of 740 2-8-0s on engineers trains in the 80s. A lot of the "preserved" steam in Italy is owned by FS, and the groups that look after them are merely custodians. The exception seems to be Italvapore at Pistoia (www.italvapore.com), who own a few locos based there, but not all.

This website FTI Association - Italian Touristics Railways - www.ferrovieturistiche.it lists a lot of the railtours that run in the northern part of Italy. RailTour Italia - Treni Storici Italiani was very good, but hasn't been updated for a year sadly.

Nice video by the way Adrian!

 

I remember witnessing some of the last throes of regular FS steam on the Val Sugana line from Trento to Roncegno in summer '76
I have recently had our family 8mm cine transferred to video. I will try and post some of our clips of FS steam in 1976 (and earlier) here when I get a minute.

 

Looking fwd to that, thanks!

 

Here is the compilation of super 8 silent cine as promised:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuhsmkeON1I&feature=g-crec-u

Hope you find it interesting despite the realtively poor quality - it was only basic kit and even that broke the bank !!

 

Good stuff! Has that 640 got outside piston valves and inside cylinders - something odd going on there?

 

Indeed it has. I believe a version of Walschaerts gear was used but you'll need to ask someone much more knowledgable than me about such things !

 

Both 640s and the smaller 625s are like that, inside connecting rods but outside valve gear. Seems quite sensible to me, having the parts that need regular maintenance on the outside.

 

Ian
Many thanks for uploading those clips. I have passed the link around here in Italy.
Adrian

 

Yes indeed. I wonder though if they were designed that way, or converted later perhaps to improve efficiency/accessibly?

A search for the 640s & 625s threw this up ............ http://www.railtouritalia.com/railtouritalia_en/flotta/ds_FS_625.htm it appears the 625s were derived from comounds - so I wonder if maybe they had the inside cylinders converted from LP to HP and lost the smaller outside cylinders? Just wild speculation on my part.

 

Thanks for the feedback folks please note the date of the clips at domo is 73 as on the caption in the film. I will correct the title text on the you tube entry which states 74 in error when back home tomorrow

 

Very nice video Ian.