FS Class 910
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FS Class 910 were
2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The maj ...
tank locomotive A tank locomotive is a steam locomotive which carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender (rail), tender. Most tank engines also have Fuel bunker, bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a #Tender ...
s designed by
Guglielmo Cappa Guglielmo Cappa (21 July 1844 – 1 September 1905) was an Italian engineer who became Head of the Material and Traction Service of the newly formed Italian State Railways (FS) in 1905. Overview Guglielmo Cappa was born in Garlasco, in the Provin ...
for Rete Sicula where they were registered as RS Class 400. They were absorbed by
Italian State Railways Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate services and other services in ...
(FS) in 1905 and became FS Class 910.


History

With the conventions of 1885, Rete Sicula took over the lines of Società per le Strade Ferrate Calabro-Sicule and had to face the problems of constructing new lines and introducing modern locomotives. The engineer
Guglielmo Cappa Guglielmo Cappa (21 July 1844 – 1 September 1905) was an Italian engineer who became Head of the Material and Traction Service of the newly formed Italian State Railways (FS) in 1905. Overview Guglielmo Cappa was born in Garlasco, in the Provin ...
designed the Class 400 steam locomotives which were re-registered as FS Class 910 on nationalization in 1905. The locomotive was designed to tackle steeply-graded lines, such as
Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
-
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
with its pass of the
Peloritani The Peloritani ( Sicilian: , ) are a mountain range of north-eastern Sicily, in southern Italy, extending for some from Capo Peloro to the Nebrodi Mountains. On the north and east they are bordered by the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas res ...
Mountains and its long tunnel. It also had to be suitable for minor local or commuter services and to have the characteristic of bidirectionality, to gain time at terminal stations by avoiding the need for turntables. The choice was a 2-6-2T which allowed the same speed in both directions of travel. The first 19 locomotives were built by
Ansaldo Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. is an Italian power engineering company based in Genoa, Italy. The original parent company, Gio. Ansaldo & C., was founded in 1853, and merged with Finmeccanica in 1993 (now Leonardo S.p.A.). In 2024, the company's share ...
of
Sampierdarena Sampierdarena (also San Pier d'Arena; Ligurian: San Pè d'ænn-a) is a major port and industrial area of Genoa, in northwest Italy. With San Teodoro it forms the West Central (Centro Ovest) ''municipio''. Geography Sampierdarena lies on ...
, while the remaining 35 were built by
Società Italiana Ernesto Breda Società Italiana Ernesto Breda (), more usually referred to simply as Breda, was an Italian mechanical manufacturing company founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. History The firm was founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. It original ...
of
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. Deliveries took place during the passage of the Sicula Network to the FS. The first delivery was of 6 locomotives registered by the Sicula network as RS 401-406. Later deliveries were numbered in the FS 91xx series from the start. In 1906 a specimen was exhibited at the Milan Exposition. The entire group became concentrated in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
for suburban services and those in Sicily were transferred to Milan. Over the years, they underwent small changes and continued to perform good service in the locomotive depots of Milano Centrale and Pavia for the service on the lines from Milan to
Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...
,
Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...
,
Lecco Lecco (, , ; ) is a city of approximately 47,000 inhabitants in Lombardy, Northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). The Bergamasqu ...
and
Voghera image:Voghera Castle.jpg, The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching. Voghera (Emilian dialect, Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin language, Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia i ...
.


Diesel conversion

In 1929 the 910.042 was experimentally converted to a Diesel-Zarlatti locomotive. This had a
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
and compressed-air transmission, using the original steam cylinders. It was not a great success and had no practical follow-up.


World War II

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, some locomotives were used for operations in Yugoslavia and seven of them remained there permanently at the end of the war, incorporated by the Yugoslavian Railways (JŽ) as their class 115.


Technical features

The locomotives used
saturated steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is ...
and compound expansion. The high-pressure cylinder was on the left, with piston valves, and the low-pressure cylinder was on the right, with a
slide valve The slide valve is a rectilinear valve used to control the admission of steam into and emission of exhaust from the cylinder of a steam engine. Use In the 19th century, most steam locomotives used slide valves to control the flow of steam into ...
. Outside
Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...
was used. The locomotive frame was carried on three coupled axles and two one-axle trucks, of the Adams type, at the two ends. This made the locomotive stable, even at high speeds, both in forward and reverse. The boiler had 222 fire tubes, increased to 226 in the second ordering series. Despite being a tank engine, the locomotive carried of coal and of water. A modification carried out from the second series onwards was the increase in the diameter of the carrying wheels from and the replacement of the Nathan lubrication system with a Friedmann lubrication pump. The locomotive was equipped with a compressed air brake and a proportional brake. It was also equipped for steam heating of the train.


Depot allocations

* Messina * Milano * Padova * Milano Greco * Venezia Mestre * Livorno * Voghera * Brescia * Lecco


Preservation

Number 910.001 was restored and is at the National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa.


References

*


Further reading

* Giovanni Cornolò, L'ing. Guglielmo Cappa e le sue compound della "Sicula", in Mondo Ferroviario 87. * Zeta-Zeta
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L'album delle locomotive, in HO Rivarossi, 11 (1964), n. 63, pp. 20–21. {{FS locos 2-6-2T locomotives 1′C1′ n2vt locomotives 910 Gio. Ansaldo & C. locomotives Breda locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of Italy Railway locomotives introduced in 1905