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Società Veneta Ferrovie.

Discussion in 'International Heritage Railways/Tramways' started by Saint, Jul 4, 2017.

  1. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    The young campers work on an ancient industrial shunter, a 600 V DC electric locomotive that shunted freight cars on FIAT spur near the famous Lingotto factory.

    FIAT.jpg
    This one is the younger and more powerful sister of our Sogliola. Se served in Italian Air Force, shunting fuel tank cars. The Westinghouse brakes were standard on these little engine.

    AM.jpg
    And now, dinner! Railway barbecue!
    RailwayBarnecue.jpg
     
  2. Saint

    Saint New Member

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  3. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    And now, pictures from the final ceremony of the Fedecrail Youth Exchange 2017. These picture already appeared on Facebook without blurring the faces, therefore I assume that permission was granted to publish them.
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    What to say? Wonderful young people eager to know and discover! A nice future for Europe. I am glad I shared with them a wonderful day traveling along the Trento-Malè-Marileva railway. Sadly, I ad to go just before this ceremony.
    Thank you to you all guys, thank you for traveling for such a long way to visit us, thank you for the work you did. Thank you and my best wishes for your future.
     
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  4. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    Long time of silence from SVF. We are still waiting for our regional government to do the required paperwork to let 880.001 enter the RFI lines to train our engineers. Rremember? We can't use experienced volunteers due Italian law, we need professional train drivers trained and certified for driving a steam engine. We have steam locomotive drivers candidates, but no chance to train and test them. Thank you politicians.

    No matter what we are working and receiving guests.

    On September 10th, during "Scala dei Sapori" festival, several tourists visited our premises despite the rail. "Scala dei Sapori" is probably the most important event in Primolano. Here are some pictures of the visitors visiting our shed (and avoiding rain):

    [​IMG]

    The rail-cycle is a 1946 contraption with wooden wheels.

    [​IMG]

    Staff members explains the working of our 880.001 engine.

    [​IMG]

    Visitors in the Corbellini coach. Engineer Corbellini, former FS chairman, was the transportation minister during post WW2 rebuilding. These coaches, built then, are the symbol of the railway post-WW2 rebuilding.

    [​IMG]

    A good number of visitors despite the pouring rain.
     
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  5. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    Today, a charter train organized by Railtour has stopped for 40 minutes in Primolano. Despite the relatively short time, the train passengers enjoyed a visit to our shed, in the future the operator plans to do longer stops there to let railway enthusiasts meet SVF.

    The train was one of Fondazione FS, with engine 740 293 pulling a light consist with a 2 axles luggage van and two "Centoporte", plus an open wagon for extra coal and other supplies.



    This is the train entering Primolano station, northbound and arriving from Bassano del Grappa. The 740 class engine were built for mountain traffic and freight trains in general, and with more tha 400 engines they were the largest italian locomotive group of locomotives until recently Trenitalia acquired more than 700 single cab E464. All the active preserved 740 belong to Fondazione FS and this one is based in Verona Santa Lucia locomotive depot and we can enjoy it mostly thanks to Associazione Veneta Treni Storici (AVTS) in Verona.

    The short train is a charter for foreigner rail enthusiasts organized. They were met by a couple of SVF member who, in the 40 minutes of the stop, presented the activities of our society.

    WelcomeInPrimolano.jpg
    The help desk welcoming our guests has panels with pictures from our past and some gadget...

    Platform1.jpg

    With a short walk (260 meters) our visitors arrived to our depot where they visited our coaches in the shed and the freight cars in the sidings



    This brief video shows the surrounding of the southern entrance.

    Again a short walk (the picture is just to show you the place :) )

    Walk.jpg

    and the trip continues. Farewell, and thank you for visiting Primolano!

     
  6. Paul42

    Paul42 Part of the furniture

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    Thanks for letting us visit your depot earlier today.
     
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  7. RayMason

    RayMason Member

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    As Paul says thanks for hosting the RTC visitors. The 880 tank is immaculate and ready to go on the planned Bassano shuttles... I'm wearing the T shirt!
    740.293 in v fine form- approaching Verona as I type
    Ray
     
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  8. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    Paul, we all thank you all for doing so a long trip to visit our land and our little depot. We all hope your visit was pleasing even if brief and to see you all again!

    We also hope that the paperwork will be completed soon so, should you come to visit us again, we will be able to greet you with something more... active!

    In the meanwhile we will work on the "Airfix style" assembly kit of a little shunter, paint the markings on the coaches, fit the vacuum brake pipes on the ferry rail van (supplied by Bluebell).
     
  9. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    Thank you very much Ray, for your visit and your preference for our T-Shirt!
    The 880 001 is ready indeed, paperwork is not :), but will be.
    740.293 is a fine engine, I hope you had a nice trip!
     
  10. 5944

    5944 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Nice to see progress with the Sogliola on the website, fascinating little machines. I didn't realise the Tipo 1936 two axle coach was the one from Campo San Martino until I looked on the website. I saw it and 835.291 there a few years ago. It was a bit of a surprise seeing a steam loco and carriage sitting next to a main road outside a shopping centre!
     
  11. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    First of all thank you to all the contributors that helped us to shis the engine to the workshop!
    Now there's more work for the knuckle wire cup brush!

    Here is the post in English...

    Do you remember the crowdfunding campaign SVF launched at the beginning of the summer of the Badoni L.914 "Sogliola" (Sole) [of course you do! After all my spamming! - Translator Note]?
    Thanks to the generosity of several contributors we gathered 3,500 € that will found the engine overhaul and tuning.

    On Saturday October 21st the engine and gearbox have been taken by a workshop specialized in heritage trucks overhaul and restoration. The engine and gearbox will be thoroughly overhauled to allow the use of the small engine to shunt our heritage rolling stock within the Primolano Railway Museum yard.

    SVF members continue to work to restore the other parts of the engine.

    Please remember that is still possible to contribute to this project by clicking on the "Sogliola" image and then on the "Donazione" (donation) button on the top of the page.
     
  12. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    The 1936 found her Fairy Godmother in the form of FD Costruzioni workshops, in Cancello Arnone. The owner of the center is a train fan, engine 835.291 arrived there still warm. But time and lack of time took their toll. When I was pre-teen I used to play on that engine, dreaming it was alive, trying to understand what was doing each lever, valve and wheel... And assuming that the controls were those I was able to move (now I know that I played with the "moderabile" brake wheel, the Westinghouse brake lever and maybe the blower valve).
    Some years ago SVF agreed with the owner to restore the engine dignity in exchange to the chance to bring the 1936 coach to its former glory. Too bad the engine is beyond repair.
     
  13. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    Some pictures from our site about the shipping of the engine of the "Sogliola" shunting locomotive:
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    The engine is a FIAT 326N truck engine, therefore a workshop specialized in heritage trucks is perfetc. In this picture they are starting to remove the gear box. Please notice the chain drive cog on the axle.
    send1.jpeg

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    Still lifting the gearbox

    send2.jpeg
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    The gearbox from the clutch side

    send3.jpeg
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    Engine ready to take off...

    send4.jpeg
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    Primolano, we have lift off!

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    The other side of the engine

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    Loading the engine on the truck

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    The "Sogliola" without its engine. Time to arm the knuckle wire cup brush!
    We were really happy when we sent the locomotive, the coaches and the freight cars to restoration, but this time we worked more and will work more.
    More fun!
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2017
  14. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    A daring move?

    SVF board has just received the unlimited, free of charge, loan of use of the diesel-electric engine De424 04, owned by Regione del Veneto. She il the last of the 3 engine of this kind left in Sistemi Territoriali fleet, and the only one still sporting the original red livery with yellow trimmings. She is in overall good conditions but not working.

    Despite the difficulties SVF is challenging now, the board accepted the loan offer from Regione del Veneto to preserve the engine and save it from complete ruin, as it happened for engines 03 and 09, relinquished in ruin from a long time.

    This will force SVF to recover € 4000 cash in 6 months just from the move from Piove di Sacco to Primolano. It is not easy but we are not daunted. Nevertheless, any donation is welcome! She is possibly the only one that can be saved.

    De424.jpg

    De424 engines marked the end of steam traction in Società Veneta railway lines. This small, cheap engine, had 2 diesel electric generators in order to save fuel when possibile. They run passenger and mixed service until the AD800, AD600 and AD900 (railcars left only the freight trains to the De424s (AD stands for "Automotrice Diesel", diesel railcar - AD600s are the same engine enlisted in FS Group 668 while AD900s are the same engine serving FS in the 663 class).
    9 engines were built by OMS in Padua, using Fiat (motor) and TIBB (elctric equipment) compontents.
     
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  15. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    Another note on the last picture.

    On the left of the engine there is the end of a MAN pattern trailer, originally built for the MAN railcars AD500.
    On the right a crane wagon, it was an item from the beginning of the 20th century.
    Both were lost some years ago when a demolition team wrought havoc on the old rolling stock parked in Piove di Sacco.
    Our engine is the only one surviving.


    ANY HELP IS WELCOME!
     
  16. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I suppose there's some degree of cold comfort in at least knowing such wanton acts of mindlessness aren't unique to any one country.
     
  17. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    They are wanton acts of short sight, people unable to see beyond the page of the accounting register. Some of the losses were really sad:
    One of the station of the line got its freight shed bombed during WWII. Being a backwater branch line belonging to a railway company striving to survive, they replaced the shed with a wooden F pattern van.
    This van had very peculiar bushing "pig face" boxes :

    [​IMG]

    But what was the most peculiar thing is that the bushel covers sported the "Fiat" name written with a font like the Ford font.
     
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  18. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Perhaps not as serious as the loss of Caligula's pleasure boats at Nemi, but bad all the same.

    I believe the "Official Story" about the demise of the Chemins de fer de Provence line to Grasse is still that it was lost to "war damage", when it was (pretty well attested) to have been deliberately wrecked by locals with the sole aim of getting the postwar French government to shell out for roads in the area

    On the other hand, if a certain phone call to Eastleigh had come just a few hours later than it did, we wouldn't still have M7 30053 on the Swanage Railway!
     
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  19. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    The lost engine raiders...

    You already know of the new SVF attempt to recover engine DE424 04.

    This morning, while an handful of brave, insensible to cold souls completed the Sogliola disassembling,



    smontata.jpeg
    another likely suicide squad went raiding the two other DE424 engines left to rust on an industrial spur near Adria:

    https://www.google.it/maps/@45.0465954,12.1564467,152m/data=!3m1!1e3

    Our goal is to scavenge the largest possible amount of spare parts for DE424 04.

    Il you go in the 3D view of Google Maps you can see the engines that sport the last "Freight Engine" livery of Sistemi Territoriali, first used on the D 753.

    We have some shots during and after the raid:
    banco.jpeg
    This is one of the control consoles, removed from the cab and placed in the luggage compartment. Many light engines for branchlines (included FS electric E424) had the luggage/guard compartment included in the engine, to save weight. In this picture, on the left, there's the guard desk with overhead "mailboxes" for the freight documents and two extra foldable seats.
    banco2.jpeg
    This is a collection of spare control instruments, engine parts are next raid goal.
    cleaning.jpeg The youngest raider taking care of the treasure.
     
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  20. Saint

    Saint New Member

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    Work continues on the "Sogliola" shunting engine. Our fellow Andrea provided us these pictures of the various parts of the engine receiving a coat of minium or minium like primer.

    The painters are Andrea himself and Carlo, the man who supervised the restoration of the shed. In the first three pictures Carlo is working on the part of the engine frame that will face the engine.

    one.jpg

    This is the bay that will host the engine when it will return from overhauling.
    two.jpg

    The picture below shows where the footplate is when the engine is fully assembled, a few inches above Carlo's head. Most of the footplate has been removed and remains only the little strip between the upright girders.

    three.jpg

    Other "Sogliola" parts. Please note that the truck below is the first rail vehicle owned by SVF, built on a pair of salvaged axles, and has its classification, too: SVF 001 :)
    four.jpg

    a view of the underframe. five.jpg

    one of the axles, driving chain side

    six.jpg

    The other side of the axle

    seven.jpg

    This is just the primer, the engine will sport a brigter shade of red as you can see on the picture of this preserved Bologna public transport authority bus. Our sogliola sported the same red, the cream colour may have been paler on our engine.

    zok.jpg
     
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