Società Veneta Ferrovie.

The Società Veneta has just issued this call for support.

Udine Cividale railway just issued a notice of sale for the historical DMU ADn 802.
DMU ADn 802 (Automotrice Diesel =- Diesel DMU) is a precious historic testimony of the railway heritage of the Società Veneta company, who ordered the class 800; and this DMU was the workhorse on the company lines in Veneto and Friuli. Once Società Veneta closed, the DMUs passed first to Ferrovie Venete, then to Sistemi Territoriali and finally to Udine Cividale railway when the former SV lines in Veneto and Friuli passed under separate companies.

The sale price has been set around 7,300€ - 7,500€ (including additional costs); to the price we must add the DMU check and transportation costs that range from 8,000€ to 8,500€, for a total estimate that ranges from 15,300€ to 16,000€, therefore a significant economic effort.

Furthermore, times are tight, offers must be submitted within December 10th, 2020.

It is for sure a difficult undertaking. Nevertheless, after restoring to full functional condition the 880.001 steam engine and collecting in Primolano yard various other rolling stock from Società Veneta, this is another challenge that SVF is willing to face to expand our working museum collection. SVF calls for the help to the train enthusiast that want to save the DMU, and the history it testimonies, from a probable sentence to the cutting torch.

To be able to submit an offer we must be totally sure that the expense has been adequately provided for. We are aware that these are difficult times for us all when we ask you a contribution: first, please, pledge your offer with an e-mail to segreteria@societavenetaferrovie.it within Saturday, December 5th, 2020. With the e-mail you'll make a commitment to do a do a money transfer (or PayPal [1]) within December 21st, 2020.

Trusting on your help, we thank you from now for you help and ask you to pass this message around.

PLEASE, when you pay and/or within the promise, specify the documents you need from SVF should you entitled some sort of benefit by doing this donation.

And now some history to explain why this DMU is so important, at least for us.

Nine DMUs of the ADn 800 class (i know, they seem railcars but they are DMUs) were built only for SV -like our DE 424-, first engines 01 to 04 and then engines 05 to 09 with engines and trucks built by FIAT and the body built by Officine Meccaniche della Stanga (OMS) in Padua.

It was indeed a cheap design, the 6 cylinder Diesel engine was a 700 pattern one, like those used on FS standard gauge railcars ALn 64 and narrow gauge RALn 60[2], the trucks were like those of the ubiquitous ALn668 while SV was among the shareholders of OMS.

Differently from ALn 668, class 800 DMUs had hydraulic transmission.

Only engines 01 to 03 survived until today and engine 03 is the only that is going to be preserved by Ferrovia Udine Cividale, while none of the DMUs built for the Adria Mestra railway survived. SV want sot amend this by saving ADn 802 and bring her back to Veneto in an SV built locomotive shed - even if not in her original depot.

Here are 3 pictures of ADn 802 in her current sad condition:



Help us save her!



On the right, before the headlight, the connector for the cable used when operating as a DMU.



Interior of the railcar. Not luxury ones but in quite good condition.

[1] Italian donors must use a bank money transfer to enjoy tax reductions, foreign donors may use PayPal if they wish.

[2] You can say that ALn 64 and RALn 60 were railcars by their two digit numbers that show the number of transported passengers. FS DMUs had three digits numbers with the first and second digit equals and the number of transported passengers shown by the second and third digit. Thus ALn 668 is a 68 passenger unit, ALn 556 a 56 passenger one and ALn 772 a 72 passenger one.

 

While the call for support (funds) is still ongoing (Please donate and share ), here are some picture of the Primolano shed yard, very very early.

So, welcome to the jungle! Now this jungle, that ate up a good share of the original jard, has been removed.



And this was the turntable when we arrived in Primolano:

 

You can't always win...

SVF board of counselors just sent this sad message to its member:

"Dear fellows,

we really regret to announce that we will not participate in the auction for the purchase of FUC [Ferrovia Udine Cividale - Udine Cividale Railway].
Surprisingly we received the hefty sum of 12,000 €, but this can not cover the cost of purchasing and transporting the DMU, not to mention the cost for an inspection and assessment of the presence of asbestos in the DMU body.
Since the DMU is sold "a peso" (by weight) and not as "ferro vecchio" (scrap) forces the buyer to cover all the accessory post sale costs, including waste analysis and and disposal. Even if the current legislation states that is the seller the one in charge of certifying the absence of asbestos, the auction notice specifies that the is the buyer the one in charge of verifying the presence of asbestos an pay for the remediation.

Since the received amount is far from the target, we do not feel like to start an operation that could put the association into debts for the coming future.

We will stay in close touch with FUC management to evaluate a sale with different terms should the auction go deserted"

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Should we get another chance to acquire the DMU, much better. Else it will be another bitter mouthful, we already got our share. But we have the other rolling stock to restore and maintain. An heartfelt thank to all our supporters.

 

Such a shame. Let's hope something can be worked out.

 

It will suirvive as a meeting/buffet room.

 

2021.

As for now it looks still as 2020 has 14 months. But giving up is not in SVF DNA. It was a cold winter, Primolano had its share of snow and freezing. We were prepared for that, both 880 boiler and plumbing were freed from water.

But now is almost March, time to resume working, fill the plumbing, add some new tool storage panel to the workshop, and mostly clear the yard, should it be possible to run some open day in late spring, summer and early autumn.



And clearing the yard means do some shunting to free the areas to be cleared. And this results in this sequence of our Diesel Engines, Sogliola (Sole) L914, Cubo (Cube) 209.002 and the DE 424.001 that could get the nickname of Incrociatore (Battlecruiser)


The first working day is ending, and Battlecruiser starts guarding the shed. There are quite a lot of graffiti to wipe away... But who knows, rumors are that retired railwaymen from Ferrovia Adria Mestre could go to primolano to take care of DE424 engine.

 

ORANGE

This is the colour for this week. That means that, at least for this week, no volunteer can reach Primolano and very few of the signaling group can reach our signal-box/museum "Cabina A".

Nevertheless there are little but important news.

Cleanup is continuing

but it is not the only news (please note: the double point on the left is where our yard is linked to the national network. The van parked on the spur is from 1906. The gray building on the left is the "Ferrotel" - unused since about 20 years or more -, it provided accomodations for the crews passing the night in Primolano, and should have replaced the accomodations within the shed. It did not see much use).
Andrea began to work on DE 424 Diesel engines:

no matter how much diesel it will drink with its 11-liters total displacement (2 engines), we want it running. But we have to wait for the condition orange to revert to yellow (and no week-end lockdown is activated), safety first.

The last Sunday has seen some activity in "Cabina A" too. Fire extinguishers where checked, we secured a financing from the municipality to overhaul "civilian" electric wiring by an external contractor, and our young Nicolò - freshman in a locomotive training school - started the rewiring of the circuit of the lever Nr. 14 on the signal-box power frame, one of the points controlling levers in the frame, installing these 'new' relays (now fully labeled):

Activating a point controlling lever will allow us a complete simulation of the operations once done when a train arrived from the Bologna line to be received on platform two [green route], with appropriate panel lights turning on or, alternatively, an engine shunting to/from the locomotive shed [blue route], activating also a recovered ground signal for the benefit of the visitors.


A more detailed view can be found here.

 

Welcome to the Orange Club. Not one that I want to be a member of!
Complimenti for all of the work being done and for you taking the time to share it with us. One day I will make it over for a visit. I think we are all looking forward to the day we turn ‘White’ again.

 

This is really a case of "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member". Too bad the club doesn't care at all...

 

We are yellow again and the work restarts.


Permanent way cleanup and waste removal were the primary goals


and then our turntable bars received some strenghtening:



But Primolano, despite being our main activity, is not the only one. Our young signalling specialist Nicolò returned to "Cabina A" and for the first time in about 14 years, a switch lever is active again:



As you can see, there's still the need to press the Tb button before moving the lever, since some circuit is missing, but it moves and the lights are on.

this will allow us to better demonstrate the interlocking in the forthcoming open days in "Cabina A". And these are the two relaya that Nicolò brought back to life:

 

It took a bit of time but now the caution level in Veneto is White, so we are free to do a lot of things, face masks sometimes are required, depending on the situation. Several members had their vaccine shots so...


BACK TO WORK!

Nobody around, no mask is required wile tuning the brake air pipes on the Sogliola



Other members were around the yard, mowing the grass, and other people took care of the motor of the small locomotive:


And there was time for some fun with the draisine C964, a Fiat contraption made using parts of light vans and the engine of the classic Fiat 500:



"who needs to be an highway star with this available?"



And the luxurious interiors



You can have a small virtual cab ride experience on it watching this video:



But what's shown above is more or less, usual stuff. What's not usual is that we

*** DID THE FRONT COVER STORY ***

O.K., it's not Time Magazine, it is a local web magazine whose intended audience are Valsugana inhabitants. The magazine publishes an interview to our president that tells about the difficulties that yet keep the train out of the line.



The title of the interview on the cover "Eppur non si muove" [Yet it does not move - with reference at the train not traveling on the Valsugana mainline that actually a branch line, and a bit drowsy one from Borgo Valsugana to Bassano] is a paraphrase of the mythical exclamation "Eppur si muove!" [Yet it moves!] that the tradition claim was first thing Galileo Galilei said when leaving the Tribunal of the Inquisition, just after abjuring his teories exposed in his famous "Dialogue Concerting the Two Chief World Systems". You can see the article and enjoy at least the pictures here:https://ita.calameo.com/read/0052710982082dc71e749. Sadly the article is in Italian, they do not provide an English translation and did not reply when I asked if I had the consent of publishing one. Nevertheless, for those who want to know more about the interview but can't read Italian, contact me and I will provide some help...

 

https://www.ilcinque.info/post/treno-storico-a-vapore-della-valsugana-valsuganotti-aiutateci

Google translate should work ok on the link. I think it's the same article that @Saint has posted.

 

It is not the full article, and when the link was published on Facebook the lack of some parts (including that on environmental impact) caused some protests by environment activists. But explaining gently the truth, the protesters understood.

Sadly they distribute the full article as a PDF with a tablet-like web application and they "kindly" disabled download and printing. Anyway, I can help you (if my English is good enough).

 

Some more images of our works. This picture is from Marco getting fun with his new drone:



Loading the coal on the 880, the "easy way"



Shunting wagons around



One of our members did an high quality laser acquisition of his old films with narrow gauge DDR trains. The writings on the cover can be easily translated with Google.



The Super8 film has been scanned (You can preview the contents ) and as you may notice by the preview, a sound library has been used to "give back the voice" to the engine. The DVD is for sale at 30€ + packaging and shipping (some of the income goes to SVF), should anyone be interested or you know someone that could be interested, please contact me...

 

Hello there!

Volunteers reached another milestone today, when the final touch, the metal sheets for the turntable gangway, were completed. The metal sheets on a PW maintenance wagon in permanent loan with RFI.



Installing the sheets and maintaining the hub




The work complete



As you may see some fun^H^H^Hshunting was required.

and a small video:

https://youtu.be/mWhqOGCDD2Q

 

The giant and the dwarf [© Luca Pettinato/SVF].

We are continuing works to prepare Primolano for the two Open Days scheduled for this year on 12 September and 10 October. The turntable received some extra finishing touch, both the gangway planks and the turning levers [© Luca Girardi/SVF]


The cover for the stairs used to access the platform pit has been set in place [© Luca Girardi/SVF]:



In the picture you can see also the lock lever.

Locomotive 880.001 had her boiler and smokebox cleared [© Andrea Zanettin/SVF]


We checked also the status of our over-a-century-old double point, and this is satisfying too [© Luca Girardi/SVF]:



and a detail of the part we were worried about with the metal tiles [© Pierluigi Scoizzato]:



We also recovered a picture from the days when we dismantled it in the forme Verona Porta Vescovo railway museum:


SVF takes care also of the memory of railways that were, in this case this stone whith the SV engraving marked the right of way of the Pieve Rocchette/Asiago railway [© Marco Bruzzo/SVF]


And for this week that's all from Primolano! [© Luca Pettinato / SVF]

 

Summertime... For the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall (September 12th and October 10th) we plan our only open days for this year. 880 001 has been kept empty for several months, volunteers checked the seals, filled the boiler and in the last week end we had the Great Pressure Test Party. All started Saturday Morning at 5 o'clock in the morning, Federico and joung Luca, who spent the night between Friday and Saturday in the shed, started the fire
then the rest of the volunteers reached Primolano, and before Jupiter Pluvius reminded us why we nicknamed Piovarolo (it means, more or less, "Little Rainy") the site, there was some time to mow some more grass, shunt some wagon, try the "Cube" engine ("Hey, we have some problems with the engine in the Cube, it does not start!"... "OK, don't worry, did not open the fuel line!"). And then (taken from the Sogliola cab) ...



Rain went, rain returned and we had even the time for a group shot before the evening barbecue, in the picture the engine crew, lawn mowers and a random "cuciniere" and a hot engine .


And then the evening party (meat for the barbecue and some polenta to be grilled; polenta requires about an hour of stirring) ...



In the evening we had an approaching storm, but it can give us some nice pictures...


and here a couple of pictures from the night shift crew:





On sunday, between a rain shower and the next one we had even sun to light the sucessful engine test and cleaning

 

As yo may know, there's Primolano but there's also the "Cabina A" (Signal Box A), and in the last week, exploiting holiday free time, some volunteers met in Cabina A to give a fresh coat to paint to the accessible walls. [© Corrado Pastò / SVF]


As you can see, not all walls are accesible. The table carries the tools that will be used in a few moments. [© Corrado Pastò / SVF]



T̶h̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶b̶ ̶Voluntees are go! Scrapping old paint, applying plaster painting... While Cabina A is closer than Primolano for most of us, the young volunteer in red has to travel from 73 to 110 km depending if the volunteering place is Cabina A or Primolano. [Copyleft G.U. Lauri / SVF ]



Brushing dirt and old paint from window frames. [© Corrado Pastò / SVF]



More old paint scrapping. [© Corrado Pastò / SVF]



And more plaster! [© Luca Girardi / SVF]




A broken glass panel is replaced with plexiglass. [Copyleft G.U. Lauri / SVF ]



It... could... work! The ACE interlocking device is powered (only 144 V DC is missing). [Copyleft G.U. Lauri / SVF ] and this gives a clumsy operator the chance to play a bit with some of the restored point lever levers (enjoy the light change):

https://youtu.be/WfodP8nLmNw

(Please note: the restored point levers "talk" with a circuit that simulates the behavior of the points. The sequence of moving a point has to be performed completely or the lever jams) the clumsy operator does not apply completely the emergency un-jamming maneuver, the button should be raised, turned 45 degrees clockwise and finally pressed while moving the lever back to the start position. In the real life that should require to break a lead seal, enter a line in the registry, quoting the number of the broken seal. After completing a maneuver the broken seal must be replaced by another one and the new seal number recorded in the registry).


Entry wall, freshly repainted. [© Luca Pettinato / SVF ]




Fresh coat of paint here too! [© Corrado Pastò ]



And when everybody is busy, this one passes! Grrr... [ © Luca Girardi ]

 

End of summer means... restart!

In the last post I shown the work we did for our open days, just two in Primolano, one in A signal box and possibly a third one for the model branch.

First Primolano. We did it on September 12th. It was a success, about four hundred visitors, generous ones so it was also a $uccess, and this is not bad since their donations are an important part of our income.



This is the group picture for the open day with the engine, lot of members (most with the green staff t-shirt), the rail-bike and the Fiat T500 draisine. The double switch is the Austrian built one and is older than the locomotive herself. It is the only one in use in Italy with a special permission of use for "museum purposes", while this other was taken just before the opening [© Luca Girardi/SVF].



A measure of the success are the four or five stars reviews on Google Business (search "Costituendo Museo Ferroviario di Primolano" in Google) and the large number of views of the new picture with the open days dates.

Back to A Signal Box. Nicolò (in the firs picture is the chap standing in front of the locomotive smokebox) is doing an incredible job reactivating the electro-mechanic lever frame. The last reactivated lever is #40, in the picture below [© Nicoo Geretto]



This lever is peculiar, is the only one whose colour is purple and controlled a ground signal. The blue numbers (blue levers) "set a route", once the route is set, all switches involved in the route are locked and can not be moved. These switches are listed above the lever and are those that the train will pass over and all those switches that could 'build' a route that could cross the one set: you can not move the lever to set the route if even a single switch is not in the correct position.
Before Nicolò's work, some of the blue levers where the only one that could be moved, and were those of the routes that were set before disconnecting and decommissioning the lever frame. Nevertheless they let us show that a blue lever could "free" a red lever (home signals). Now we can move the switches levers too and have even the lights on the synoptic table being lit or turned off.



And above you can see the new shelf in the signal box where components to be used to restore the signal box can be stored [© Nicoo Geretto]. The top of the shelf contains the hearth of a light signal that we call "relé schermo" (screen relay) from the electro controlled device that places a glass of the appropriate colour in front of the lamp. All these thing will improve the experience of our visitors, and will be shown to the public on the next open day.

And now a few word about the model branch. The main activities have been, until now, to go in some place, set up a layout (until now, Corrado's ones) and let children play. Now we are creating more modules for a large station, to add 7 more meters of route for all those who get fun with model trains, not to use always poor Corrado's ones and let mode child play at the same time. This work has been stopped for more a year due the pandemic. Yesterday evening we tested the rails, successfully!

 

Have you ever wondered how much work it may need to activate a single lever in Cabina A lever frame? For this peculiar lever, that once controlled a switch in the western part of Padua railway station, a couple of relays were salvaged after the signal box was decommissioned. Today Nicolò replaced them with "modern" (1958 pattern ones) and it took the whole morning.

First step, installing the counterplate with some wiring among the relays:





Second step, complete the wiring, now the relays are connected to the system:



then the wiring is tidied up and two selenium rectifiers are installed (the rectifiers are those black cylindrical objects bolted on the counterplate):



And after a day of work, the task is completed! Good job Nicolò, this is a neat work!




And you now can see the relays commuting state when the lever is moved: