2-6-0 Steam Locomotives in Italy

Class Gruppo 600 - 2 serie (Locobase 15572)

Data from diagram Loco: 141, Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques from locomotive book supplied by Dany Machi up at [] as

Diagrammes des machines SACM construites a GRAFENSTADEN (October 2007).

Locobase 3069 describes the first 50 locomotives in this numerous class of von Borries compounds. As noted, the compounding ratio was unusually low at 2.01 and the boiler apparently was too small as well.

The makeover adjusted the compounding ratio by decreasing the left-side HP cylinder's diameter by 20 mm and increasing the right-side LP cylinder diameter by 40 mm. Tube heating surface area grew by 29%. At the cost of about four more tonnes (8,818 lb) in engine weight, the FS had a large class of very useful mixed-traffic locomotives.

CM Saronno delivered the first and second batches of twelve each and Ansaldo added the next 20, and Ungherese 9 more. German builders included Esslingen (9), Hartmann (12), Henschel (36), SACM of Graffenstaden (8), and Schwartzkopff (29). Austria's Sigl of Wiener Neustadt supplied 36.

From 1929 to 1933, 153 Gr. 600s were updated with superheaters installed in their original boilers and Caprotti valve gear; see Locobase 3673.

Class Gruppo 600 - 1 serie (Locobase 3069)

Data from Reder (1974, pl 235) and [] (visited 30 June 2005).

Delivered by Ansaldo (30) and Saronno (20) to the Rete Adriatica (RA 380.13 to RA.380.50), the Strade Ferrate Meridionali (SFM 3801-3812), and the Ferrovie dello Stato for mixed-traffic operations, this design was the first to use the Zara truck. Because the cylinders were inside and the valve gear outside, a second return crank on the crank pin drove the gear. These were equipped with Nathan lubricators.

It's apparent that when the FS wanted to add more locomotives, their evaluation of the original design concluded that the compounding ratio was too low and the boiler too small. The changes appeared as much more numerous Series 2; see Locobase 15572.

Class Gruppo 625 (Locobase 3673)

Data from Ugo Poddine as contributor to Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000). Additional data from the US Military Railway Service's Equipment Data Book for Italian Locomotives supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange; and "Some Italian Locomotives at the Turin Exhibition", Locomotive Magazine, Volume 17 (15 November 1911), pp. 246-247.

This class was based on Grupo 600 compounds (Locobases 3069 and 15572), but using a new boiler and simple-expansion cylinder operation. Their graceful lines and compact profile earned them the nickname "signorine".

The first 108 built by Ansaldo and CM Saronno from 1910 to 1914. After World War I, 80 more were produced, 55 from Ansaldo and Saronno and 25 by Berliner Maschinenbau.

From 1929 to 1933, 153 Gr. 600s were updated with superheaters installed in their original boilers and Caprotti valve gear and joined the other 625s in a separate numbering series that took the original 600 number and added 300 (e.g. 625.308 for 600.08).

According to the US MRS's 1944 data, the 625's boiler produced 14,300 lb (6,486 kg) of steam per hour. The design was rated at 800 hp at 36 mph (58 km/h).

Twenty years later, 45 625s (10 converted 600s and 25 625s) were refitted with the distinctive Franco-Crosti boiler and placed in a separate Class 623. These were easily identified by the long, narrow preheater sections that flanked the main boiler. These used exhaust steam to preheat water. Only a few classes ever received the boilers andthey were not a success.

Class Gruppo 640 (Locobase 2475)

[] (visited 30 June 2005) and Hollingsworth (1982). See also Albert H Bone, "Some Recent Designs of Locomotives for Service on Continental Railways", Cassier's Magazine, 1910, pp. 561-609.

Heating surface area uses the water-side diameter for the tubes. Fire-side diameter (45 mm) yields 108 sq m (1,163 sq ft) of tube heating surface area and an evaporative heating surface area of 118 sq m (1,267 sq ft).

See the saturated-steam, two-cylinder compound predecessors; Locobase 9188.

Brian Hollingsworth explains that the 640 engines were successful in express passenger service, when few other railroads even thought of using Moguls, because of their truck design. Giuseppe Zara, the State Railway's designer, created a truck that grouped the lead pony truck and the leading driving axle. In addition, the lead driving axle was given spherical journals and bushings on the crank pins and connecting rods to allow up to 3/4" of play without disrupting the geometry of the coupled axles. The design had large inside cylinders and small outside piston valves.

"In actual service," reported Alfred H Bone,"these engines have shown a marked superiority over the compound engines of similar dimensions in coal and water consumption, especially with heavy trains." They were credited with a sustained output of 1,000 to 1,050 horsepower.

First produced by Schwartzkopf in Berlin, but built by several companies until 1930. Ugo Poddine, contributor to Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000), gave the 169-unit figure for number produced; Hollingsworth says 188. Tuttotreno broke the tie by showing the road numbers and deliveries over a four-year period.

Class Gruppo 645 (Locobase 3674)

Data from Ugo Poddine as contributor to Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000). Additional data from the US Military Railway Service's Equipment Data Book for Italian Locomotives supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange; and "Mogul Locomotive, Italian State Railways", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXV [25], whole no.320 (15 April 1919), pp. 47-48.

Originally built for the Romanian Railway systems, these relatively large Moguls were diverted to Italian railways instead during World War I. Ordered as oil-burners, the class was converted to coal for the Ferro delle Stato.

Note that even by the end of World War II when the US MRS prepared its data, the class still hadn't been superheated. Indeed, the LM report described the design as "remarkable for its extreme simplicity." No superheater, no compensation between the leading Bissel truck and the lead driven axle (i.e. not the usual Italian provision of a Zara radial truck), flat slide valves.

Still, the boiler managed to generate 21,560 lb (9,779 kg) of steam (albeit saturated) and the class was rated at 870 hp at 27 mph.

Class Gruppo 875 (Locobase 3686)

Data from Ugo Poddine as contributor to Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000). Additional data from the US Military Railway Service's Equipment Data Book for Italian Locomotives supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Officine Meccaniche Milano works numbers (road numbers) were 424-435 (001-012) in 1912, 509-533 (025-049) in 1913, and 554-559 (071-076) in 1914; Ansaldo 986-997 (013-024) in 1912, 1151-1160 (099-108);

Breda 1503-1523 (050-070) in 1914, 1616-1629 (085-098); Saronno 492-499 (077-083) in 1914 and 539-547 (110-117) in 1916.

Mogul tanks built for mountain service and using the same boiler and grate as the 851 0-6-0Ts. 28 were superheated as Grupo 880, which see. The MRS rated these little tanks at 440 hp at 36 mph and normal steam raising capacity at 10,120 lb (4,587 kg) per hour.

Note: The MRS's two listings for the 825 show one with 173 tubes, the other with 213 but with the other relevant dimensions -- tube length and area -- identical. The specs present the 213 figure because it's accompanied by a tube diameter (fire side). Extrapolating the tube diameter to encompass the same areas would require 56 mm (2.20") tubes. Locobase does not know if such diameter tubes ever appeared in an Italian locomotive.

Class Gruppo 880 (Locobase 3687)

Data from Ugo Poddine as contributor to Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000). See also "Locomotiva FS 880" in Wikipedia at [], last accessed 8 June 2024; and "Locomotive Vapore 880.051 E 880.046", [][] (summoned through the Wayback Machine), Google Translate, last accessed 8 June 2024.

The class consisted of 28 superheated rebuilds of Grupo 875 Mogul tanks and 60 more built from scratch. Wikipedia descibes the updata as "a gamble, as it was not certain that it would be possible to exploit the advantages of superheated steam." As translated by Google, "the bet was largely won."

The design showed an impressive amount of superheat area. They also received larger cylinders with piston valves replacing the original slide valves.

The description of the preserved 880.046 stated that superheating the 875s raised their value and increased their versatility.

Wikipedia noted the changes reduced axle loading and repeated the 875's "modest dimensions", suiting them for service "even on particularly rough sections of the line". Although they could be found all over the FS system, most were assigned to Cremona in the Lombardy region and about 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Milan, Novara (30 km/18.6 miles west of Milan) and Cuneo (about 440 km/274 miles west of Genoa) depots.

The last 880 hauled local freights in the Piedmont in 1978,

Class Gruppo 905 (Locobase 3689)

Data from Ugo Poddine as contributor to Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000); [] (visited 30 June 2005), and "Locomotiva FS 905" in Wikipedia at [], last accessed 28 July 2022.

Seven dozen eight-coupled tanks built for central Italian branch lines, they lasted til the end of steam. The Tuttotreno site shows that the locomotives were credited with 540 hp (403 kW) and a maximum allowable speed of 70 km/h (43.5 mph). Wikipedia adds that its relatively high adhesion weight gave it good traction on starting, even over difficult profiles.

Class Gruppo 905 (Locobase 15146)

Data from cnum_8XAE739, Exposition universelle, Groupe VII. Classes 39 et 40: Industrie des Transports-Chemins de fer et Tramways. Exposition internationale des industries et du travail de Turin 1911 (Paris: Comite Francais des Expositions a l'Etranger, 1911), p. 18.

These tank engines were originally designed in 1904 for the Adriatic, but not produced. After the railways' unification and nationalization in 1905, the FS determined that it needed fast and versatile locomotives in the center and south of Italy. Moreover, the railway bought heavier steel coaches for its passenger trains and wanted more powerful engines. Their cylinders were fed by piston valves.

The FS went ahead and ordered 24 locomotives from Maffei in 1908. Breda built another 60 in 1910-1912.

The class remained in service for more than sixty years.