The Railway Magazine – August 2019

96 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019

Time running out for

Italy’s‘Tartarughe’

THE last fewremainingItalian

RailwaysClass 444‘Tartarughe’

(Tortoise) electric locos are

expectedtobewithdrawnby

December.

They ar ebeing replacedby more

modern locos,and mostrecent ly

by second-hand,Italian-built‘Fyra’

high-speed trains from

TheNetherlands.

Italian Stat eRailwaysintroduced

the first Class 444 locos in 1967

when theywerethe most

powerful and fastest locos in

Italy,at3 ,420kW and 180kph,

respectively.After fiv eprototypes

had been built another 112 locos

wereordered and delivered

between 1968 and 1975.The

production locosweremore

powerful at 4,200 kW and faster,

approved for200kph.

When new the locos had

curvedstyling andwere given

the nickname‘Tartarughe’with

deliberate iron yast hey werein

factthe fastest locos in the fleet.

Formanyyears some locos carried

tortoise logos.

Between 1989 and 1997 the

production locos,plusprototype

No.444 005,were re built with

new traction equipmentfor higher

speed operation, andreceived

new,moreangular,but more

aerodynamic front-end designs.

Theother prototypeswere

withdrawn, although No.444 001

is preserved.

Theclass has progressively lost

work,with manylocos withdrawn

in the last decade,especially

following the opening of much

of Italy’s high-speed network and

the introduction of multipletypes

of new high-speed trainreplacing

loco-hauled trains.

In recent years the class

dominatedIntercit yand

night-train operation between

Milan andLecce, along theAdriatic

coast,aswell as operating IC and

Thello trains between Milan and

Genoa/Ventimiglia, which is now

the best placetof indthe fewlocos

remaining in service.

Above: No.E444 085 in the

currentTrenitali aliver yarrives

in Bari with an Interc ityservice

fromMilan onFebruary27. All

of thecoaches areint he new

Trenitalia IC white&red livery.

BOTH IMAGES:KEITH FENDER

Right: Before re building:

No.E444 102 arrives inVenice

SantaLucia onAugust 12, 1987

with Swiss andFrenchstock.

TheFrench couchettes had

departedCalais Maritimeat

19.40 the previous day.

Chinese-builtsteam back on USAmainline

ONE oftwoChinese-built‘QJ’
2-10-2 steam locos–based on the
Iowa Interstate freightrailroad –
has been in action this summer
operating short-distanceday trips
to raise funds andawareness for
local firedepartments intowns
along therailroad’s route.
Two‘QJs’(Nos.6988 and
7081, built in 1985 and 1986,
respectively)wereimportedinto
the USA in 2006, and arenow
operatedvia the‘not-for-profit’
CentralStatesSteam Preservation
Association.
Iowa Interstate provides track
access and financial/logistical
supportfor the charitytrips as
these supportits day-to-day
frei ghtoperationsby enhancing

relations with localcommunities.

Thetrips arealsoused

to communicate safety

messagesto passengers as

partoft he Operation Lifesaver

prog rammeto reducelevel

crossing accidents.The day-trip

prog rammerestartedin2 018

afterafiveyear hiatus.

‘QJ’No.6988 is currently active,

and has had somecosmetic

changes,with black-painted

driving wheels and new

distinctiveIowa Interstate red

and yellowlightning zig zags on

its smokedeflectors,leadingto

its new nickname the‘Iowa Bolt’.

Thelocos ar ebasedat asecure

shed in the Iowa Interstate’s Yard

in Newton, Iowa.

These arenot the only Chinese

steam locos in the USA. Another

‘QJ’loco –No. 7040–was

importedin2008 by the

RJCormanRailroad in Kentucky.

It wasused until 2013 and is

currently plinthed.

Ex-China Rail 2-8-2‘JS’

No.8419 is basedat theBoone

Scenic railroad in Iowa,but is

currently out of service.

TwoChinese-built‘SY’2-8-2

locoswerebuiltforAmerican

tourist train operators in 1989,

and arecurrently in use in New

Jersey andConnecticut.

Athird, builtforaUSrailroad

in 1991,wasnever delivered

afterbeing lostat sea when the

ship itwasonsank.

‘QJ’No .6988 at Anita, Iowa on June 30 with one of three charity

trip sonthatday whichwere headingwest towardsthe town of

Atlantic.No. 6988 isknownasthe‘Iowa Bolt’.KEITH FENDER

Replacedby ex-‘Fyr a’

ETR700

Trenitalia has been using

rebuiltETR700 EMUsonthe

Milan to Lecce routesince

June 9, which has ledto

Class 444 losing moreoftheir

remainingwork as loco-hauled

trains arebeing progressively

removed.

The‘new’TrenitaliaETR700

trains arethe former‘Fyr a’or

‘Albatros’high-speed EMUsbuilt

between 2004-2011by

Ansaldo Breda (nowHitachi

Italy) forDutch andBelgian

Railwaystouse between

Amsterdam and Brussels.

Theentirefleet of 19 trainswas

returnedto the manufacturer in

2013, and 17 of them have now

beenrebuiltby Hitach ifor use

by TrenitaliaasClass ETR700.

HistoricBentheimer

Eisenbahn line

re-opensto passengers

REGIONALservices on the

28kmBad Bentheim to

Neuenhaus line inwestern

GermanyrestartedonJuly6.

Services areoperated by

the line’s historic owner the

Bentheimer Eisenbahn using

afleet of new Alstom‘LINT’

DMUs.

Hydrogen trainsfor

FrankfurtandFrance

ALSTOMhaswon acontractto

supply 27 of its‘iLINT’hydro gen

fuel-cell and batterypowered

trainsto Frankf urtamMain

area transportauthorityRMV.

Theorder is wortharound

€500million, including 25years

of maintenanc eplus hydrogen

supply.The fleetisd ue in

servicebyDecember 2022,

replacing DMUs.

In France,Alstom haswon

its first orderforhydro gen-

powere dtrains with an order

forthree Régiolishydrogen

fuel-cell-powere dmultiple

units,which will be used in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region

to operateClermont-Ferrandto

Lyon services

Turkish-built trams

forTimișoara

TURKISHtram manufacturer

Bozankayabeatoff Pesa

(Poland)to win an orderfor

16 new low-floor tramsforthe

RomaniancityofTimișoara.

Thenew vehicle swill be

supplied in 2020.

SIDELINES

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COMPILED BY

KEITH

FENDER

Call: 01507 529589

email: railway@

mortons.co.uk

Yo urreports and

pictures aremostwelcome.

Highlycompetitiverates

arepaid,especially if

exclusivetoTheRM.