FS Class 103 was a class of

2-2-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle. The wheel arrangement bo ...

steam locomotives of the

Italian State Railways Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

(FS), originally built for the Strade Ferrate dello Stato Piemontese (SFSP).

History

Fifteen locomotives were built in Britain between 1853 and 1855 by

Sharp, Stewart and Company Sharp, Stewart and Company was a steam locomotive manufacturer, initially located in Manchester, England. The company was formed in 1843 upon the demise of Sharp, Roberts & Co.. It moved to Glasgow, Scotland, in 1888, eventually amalgamating wit ...

and were numbered 34 to 38 and 80 to 89 by the SFSP, which used them for the haulage of fast trains. In 1865 they passed to

Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia The Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (''Upper Italian Railways'', ''SFAI'') was an Italian railway company from 1865 to 1885. History It was established on 1 July 1865 with of line it acquired from the state railway of the Kingd ...

(SFAI) which numbered them from 91 to 105. In 1864, SFAI purchased another five units and numbered them 106 to 110. In 1885 they were taken over by

Rete Mediterranea Rete Mediterranea (RM) defines that part of the Italian railway network that, under the law of 27 April 1885 no. 3048, was assigned to the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo for operation and development. These were mainly lines fro ...

(RM) where they were numbered 519 to 538. In 1905, only 5 units survived to be taken over by

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

(FS), which registered them as Class 103 with numbers from 1031 to 1035. Since these were obsolete machines, they were all scrapped by 1910.

Technical details

The driving wheels had a diameter of just under 2 metres and this allowed them to reach 80 km/h. The design of the engines was typically British with outside frames and inside cylinders. The tender carried 7 tons of water and 3 tons of coal. They developed 300 horsepower.

References

{{FS locos 2-2-2 locomotives 103 Railway locomotives introduced in 1853 Standard gauge locomotives of Italy Rete Mediterranea steam locomotives Sharp Stewart locomotives Passenger locomotives