Locomotives LVCI 1-50 and 155-164 were

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 LVCI built for service on the railways of the Lombard-Veneto Kingdom. Numbers 1-50 were built by

Robert Stephenson & Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomoti ...

and numbers 155-164 were built by Beyer, Peacock & Company.

History

The two series of locomotives entered service between 1857 and 1858. In 1859, following the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

, the LVCI network was divided into a Lombard part ( Lombardy was annexed to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

) and a Venetian part (

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

remained a possession of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

). Locomotives 1-50 were divided into LOMB 1-35 and VEN 1-15, while 155-164 were all assigned to the Venetian part with numbers VEN 16-25. In 1865, when the

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) was established, the Lombard machines were taken into the stock of this company and became SFAI 31-65. The following year, after the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence ( it, Terza Guerra d'Indipendenza Italiana) was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in ...

, which resulted in the annexation of the

region to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

, the 25 Veneto machines also came into SFAI stock and were numbered SFAI 66-90. The SFAI scrapped 10 machines in 1874, and rebuilt another 10 with 2-4-0 wheel arrangement, giving rise to the 301-311 series.

The great networks

In 1885, with the creation of the great national networks, the locomotives were divided between the Adriatic Network (RA) and the Mediterranean Network (RM). The RA received 22 units, all of Robert Stephenson construction, and gave them numbers RA 31-52. The RM received all the Beyer Peacock units, which they numbered RM 501-510, and 8 Stephenson units, which they numbered RM 511-518.

Nationalization

In 1905, with the establishment of

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), eight units were still in operation and they were registered as FS Class 102. They comprised four Stephenson units, numbered 1021-1024, and four Beyer Peacock, numbered 1025-1028. All the locomotives were scrapped before 1910, except one which survived long enough to be shown at the Esposizione di Torino in 1911, although it was scrapped soon afterwards.

History

The great networks

Nationalization

References

Further reading