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 735 (Italian: ''Gruppo 35'') is a 2-8-0 'Consolidation' steam locomotive.

Design and construction

The Class 735 was designed as a response of the situation developed during the years of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

; the Italian railways needed more locomotives for freight trains, but there was no possibility of building them at home or in war-ravaged Europe. It was therefore decided to have them built overseas. Using the Class 740 design as a pattern (but allowing for alterations in order to avoid delays in the production), an order for 105 (later raised to 115) locomotives was given to

Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

in 1916, and the following year they were completed, disassembled and sent by cargo ship to Italy (with only 108 reaching Italy, however, as a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

sank the ship carrying the remaining seven). A subsequent order for another 285 locomotives, with some minor improvements in the boiler, was given in 1918 to the Montreal Locomotive Works. Their American origin showed in their being fitted with a

Bissel truck A Bissell or Bissel truck (also Bissel bogie or Pony truck) is a single-axle bogie which pivots towards the centre of a steam locomotive to enable it to negotiate curves more easily. Invented in 1857 by and usually then known as a ''pony truck'' ...

instead of the Italian bogie widespread in Italy, and with the locomotives of the first batch having fireboxes made of steel rather than copper.

Operations

Nicknamed "''Wilson''" (in honour of US president

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

) throughout their career, the Class 735 locomotives proved very successful; they were considered by engineers to be somewhat more powerful than the 740 Class, although their consumes were accordingly higher. Pulling mainly freight trains but often also passenger trains, they operated until the 1960s, when mass withdrawals of the Class began, until the last one was retired in 1971.

Preservation

Two Class 735 locomotives survived into preservation, 735.128, preserved as a static exhibit at 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 ...

, and 735.155, in possession of the ''Museo Ferroviario Piemontese'', awaiting restoration.

Trivia

One Class 735 locomotive prominently appeared in the 1965 film

Von Ryan's Express ''Von Ryan's Express'' is a 1965 World War II adventure film starring Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, and Raffaella Carrà, and directed by Mark Robson. Produced in CinemaScope, the film depicts a group of Allied prisoners of war ( POWs) who cond ...

, starring Frank Sinatra.

References

* {{FS locos

735 __NOTOC__ Year 735 ( DCCXXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 735 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

2-8-0 locomotives ALCO locomotives MLW locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1917 Standard gauge locomotives of Italy 1′D h2 locomotives Freight locomotives