The

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane 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; Italian State Railways) Class 290 (Italian: ''Gruppo 290''), formerly the Rete Adriatica Class 350 bis, is a 0-6-0 steam locomotive.

Design and construction

The Class 290 was a development of the earlier Class 270 locomotives, studied under the Rete Adriatica; it kept the wheelbase, but replaced the boiler with a slightly bigger one, with a minimally coned rear ring. Its construction was continued under the new FS management, which made it one of its twelve standard designs; it was the last and most successful 0-6-0 Italian locomotive. The class was built by several Italian and foreign manufacturers, between 1899 and 1913. The first 30 locomotives were fitted with a two-axle tender, with a coal capacity of and a water capacity of ; the subsequent ones were fitted with the three-axle tender that would see widespread service under the FS (especially behind the Class 625 and Class 640 locomotives). The first 112 locomotives were classified as Class RA 350 bis (with running numbers between 3631 and 3742); of these, 52 were taken over by the FS in July 1905 upon formation, while the other 60 were taken over by the new ''Strade Ferrate Meridionali'' (Southern Railways), a rump of the RA, until its incorporation with the FS in July 1906.

Service

The class saw widespread service on the Italian network, with the first members of the class being sent to work as helpers on the steep lines around

Fabriano Fabriano is a town and ''comune'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Fossato di Vico and east of Gubbio (both in Umb ...

and

Sulmona Sulmona ( nap, label= Abruzzese, Sulmóne; la, Sulmo; grc, Σουλμῶν, Soulmôn) is a city and ''comune'' of the province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, Italy. It is located in the Valle Peligna, a plain once occupied by a lake that disappeared in ...

. Some locomotives were withdrawn relatively early, but as many as 60 were still active after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

; however, their activity ceased by the end of the 1950s.

Preservation

The last member of the class to remain active, the 290.319, survived into preservation; it is currently kept in the

Pietrarsa railway museum The National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa ( it, Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa, italic=no) lies beside the Naples–Portici railway, between the city of Naples and the towns of Portici and San Giorgio a Cremano. Pietrarsa is an area am ...

References

* * {{FS locos 0-6-0 locomotives

290 __NOTOC__ Year 290 ( CCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius (or, less frequently, yea ...

Gio. Ansaldo & C. locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1899 Standard gauge locomotives of Italy Costruzioni Meccaniche di Saronno locomotives Mixed traffic locomotives