Dittaino – Leonforte railway line

Dittaino – Caltagirone

Route length:

14.7 km

Strub (between Dittaino and Assoro)

	from Catania
0	Dittaino	255 m
	to Caltagirone
	after Caltanissetta Xirbi
	Start of the cogwheel route
6.2	Cavalcatore	408 m
10.7	Assoro	690 m
	End of the gear train
14.7	Leonforte	650 m

The Dittaino – Leonforte line was a single-track, narrow - gauge railway in eastern Sicily . The route led from Dittaino on the Catania – Palermo route for 14.7 km to Leonforte . The route, which is provided in sections with racks ( Strub system ), was opened between 1918 and 1923 and closed around 1959.

history

The route was designed primarily to connect the sulfur mines in the Dittaino region with the port of Catania . The first section between Dittaino and Cavalcatore was opened on March 8, 1918. Assoro was reached on May 12, 1921. The entire line to Leonforte went into operation on September 30, 1923. The route was discontinued on April 16, 1959 and canceled in 1961.

business

The line was operated by the FS . The entire operation was carried out with steam locomotives, which, however, only allowed a maximum speed of 30 km / h. The depot was located in Piazza Armerina on the route to Caltagirone.

literature

Alfredo Alabiso: Posta per Ferrovia in Sicilia , Palermo 1994, p. 133.
Railway Atlas Italy and Slovenia , Schweers + Wall, 2010, p. 108 ff.
John Organ: Narrow Gauge Branch Lines, Sardina to Sicily, Scenic Rail Journeys on the Italian Islands , Middleton Press, 2013, ISBN 978-1-908174-50-5 .