last italian steam info request...

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all who replied to "sights, sounds, & smells..." My "discovery" of a live, working ten-wheeler in Vicenza, Italy (April, 1975) prompted a thought: When did the ol' Ferrovia dello Stato drop their fires for good? Thanks in advance for all thoughts...

[Anonymous]

In different stages in the middle of the 80'. Let say that ll was totally gone in 1987-89. After that only historical steam has been used occasionally on the FS rails.
Let me check with my hist(e)orical friends here.

I'm not 100% shure, but I presume you had seen a 625 (2-6-0) or a 740 (consolidation) in Vicenza.
Being an "steam" fanatic and living about 20 miles from Vicenza I am pretty shure, no "then wheelers" has been there in 1975 (otherwise I will have pictures of that, being a railfans from about 1965).

Ciao Andrea

[Anonymous]

Thanks (andrealuigi) for your info. It prompted me to dig through my old photos to realize I did indeed see a couple of live, working 2-6-0's, rather than ten-wheelers, back in '75. I stand corrected. I'm still pretty sure I saw one in Vicenza, though my photo was taken during a major station stop between Bologna and Milano. Not sure of the name of the town. The road number was not visible in the photo. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

After checking a few books I can tell you that there isn't a date for the sto to the regular steam trains in Italy, but that a slow fading started in 1975 and could be concluded by 1982, where the CEO of FS stopped all steam traffic.
After one year, anyway, steam resurvived and continued with special trains, mostly organized by railfan clubs and traveller offices with the few remaining steamers.
Only at middle '90 a steam preservation program has been starded that allow now much more steam trains on the net then about 20 years ago.

I'm happy the someone outside Italy is interested in or pretty, thiny fashionable steam locomotives.

Italy never had such powerfull super steamer like in the USA or even in Germany and French, but we had locomotives like the 2-6-2 685 that looks extremelly agreable.

Ciao Andrea

[Anonymous]

I also am interested in Italian trains, especially steam. Italy did have much smaller engines than many other countries, but Italy does have the distinction of being the builder of the heaviest steam locomotives in Europe! These were massive 2-10-2's built for Greece in the 1950's. Why Greece chose Italy to build them is a mystery. As Italy didn't have experience in building such large steam engines, the Greek 2-10-2's were a major failure. Their fireboxes were undersized and they had many mechanical problems. They were withdrawn as soon as they were delivered for modifications. Nevertheles, they worked until the 1970's.

[Anonymous]

I ma an italian collector i have 2659 model all the italian steam loco , german, austrian and more I live now for job reasons in sydney australia, in italy actually works some GR625 and GR740 that kind of locomotives was very popular abd some of them was preserved , it is some special train been otganized from clubs as AULLA-PONTREMOLI in tuscany nice locos as the big gr691 are just in a tranportation museum if you are interested i can send you a complete calendar for the steam soeciqal trains or some addres were you vcan contact some one that organize steam ride, the queen otf the italian steam locos was the GR 691 been builded in about 400 model the last syeam train was the MILANO central to MORTARA i belive in the 60s
any way if you want more info go here http://www.miol.it/stagniweb/index.htm the site can be read in engli***o if you need more info feel free to contact me my email
[e-mail]
in australia i started to collect US train and i have gere a nice collection about 150 in my italian /european collectoon i miss 1 just one piece the GR 736 that loco was the us army gI 2-8-0 the model very close to the alaskan 651 or 561
so i am investigating for scratch and rebuild that model it was in service till the 50s when been discontinued due the feeding ,nafta,and thre trouvle at the boiler
Waiting hear about yuo
mario
Nb feel free to emal

[Anonymous]

if you been in vicenza you was a soldier there is many US soldiers there i been an italian offier for 30 years and I been deployed in vicenza to