Paola – Cosenza railway line
| Paola-Cosenza | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Passenger train to Paola shortly before Castiglione Cosentino
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 Route profile: blue: original adhesion sections, red: rack
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| Route length: | up to 1987: 35 km since 1987: 25.9 km |
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| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | since 1987: 3 kV = | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | until 1987: 75 ‰ since 1987: 18 ‰ |
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| Rack system : | until 1987: Strub | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Paola – Cosenza railway is a single - track, standard - gauge railway line operated by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS) in the southern Italian province of Cosenza , which connects Paola on the Tyrrhenian Sea with the provincial capital of Cosenza . The original mountain route, which was partially equipped with the Strub rack and pinion system , was replaced in 1987 by the 15.332 kilometer long Santomarco Base Tunnel.
Original range with rack
To overcome the mountain range between Cosenza and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the branch line, designed with a gradient of up to 75 ‰, made use of the Strub rack. The construction work, which began in 1907, encountered great difficulties, so that the line could only be opened on August 2, 1915 with a two-year delay. For the traction the FS ordered from the Swiss Locomotive and Maschinenfabrik (SLM) in Winterthur eight wet steam locomotives of the series 980 with separate adhesion and gear drive system Winterthur . Four such machines were already in use at the Saline di Volterra – Volterra cog railway . Although the CDUIz 64.900–908 passenger coaches were equipped with gear brakes, the locomotives were always lined up on the valley side of the train for safety reasons, so that a shunting maneuver was necessary on the way.
In 1922 gave Breda the series 981 , which was built with SLM license modeled on the series 980th The hot steam while locomotives allowed an increase in the Vorstelllast , but no significant travel time gains.
The positive experience with the ALn 56 railcars prompted FS to procure nine special vehicles of this series in order to speed up traffic between Paola and Cosenza. To increase the tensile force have all been driven instead of only half of the axles and the 105- PS - Fiat - diesel engine was a gear with a smaller ratio . There was no gear drive, but the vehicles were given brake gears. The railcars delivered in 1937 and 1938 with their rounded aerodynamic end face were given the designation ALn 56.1901-1910. With their greater speed and the elimination of maneuvering on the way, they made it possible to reduce travel time to 90 minutes.
In 1955, six new Fiat multiple units of the ALn 64.1000 series were put into service, which were appreciated by passengers because of their greater comfort. The small series designed for use on the Paola – Cosenza line was derived from the RALn 60 series , which has proven itself on the Sicilian narrow-gauge railways . The 185 HP diesel engine mounted at the bottom of the car body drove the four adhesion axles via a mechanical 5-speed gearbox. To ensure safety on the steep section, a gear brake was again available.
New line with Santomarco base tunnel
Already at the end of the 1930s, plans were made for a new route to replace the slow and maintenance-intensive rack railway operation. The plans were resumed after the Second World War and included a tunnel section with gradients of up to 18 ‰ and radii of curvature of at least 300 meters as well as a new terminus in Cosenza. In March 1966, construction work began, which would last over twenty years and cost around Lire 20 billion . On May 31, 1987 the new train station in Cosenza was opened and with the entry into force of the summer timetable the new line electrified with 3000 volts direct current was opened to traffic. In addition to the new train station, the 15.332 kilometer long Santomarco base tunnel with a crossing station in its center is the most important component of the new line.
literature
- Marco Bruzzo: Paola – Cosenza, l'ultimo vapore. In: Tutto treno & storia. No. 31, April 2014, pp. 36–41. (Paola – Cosenza, the last steam train; Italian)
- Paolino Camposano: Miglioramento dei servizi ferroviari tra Cosenza e Paola. In: Ingegneria ferroviaria. No. 18, December 1963, pp. 1069-1080. (Improvement of the train connections between Cosenza and Paola; Italian)
- Vittorio Cervigni: Nuova linea e nuova stazione; Cosenza cambia faccia. In: iTreni. No. 75, Salò , ETR Verlag (Editrice Trasporti su Rotaie), October 1987, pp. 13-18. (New line and new train station; Cosenza changes faces; Italian)
- Mauro Francesco Minervino: L'ultima cremagliera. La ferrovia Paola – Cosenza 1915–1987. Ricerche immagini e testi originali. Dopolavoro Ferroviario di Paola, Paola 1988. (The last rack railway. The Paola – Cosenza railway 1915–1987. Research images and original texts; Italian)
- Nico Molino, Beppe Sinchetto: Linee ferroviarie. La Paola-Cosenza. Elledi Publishing House, Turin 1985, ISBN 88-7649-032-9 . (Railway lines. La Paola – Cosenza; Italian)
- Franco Natalizia: Storia delle Ferrovie in Calabria. Orizzonti Meridionali publishing house, Cosenza 2005. (History of the railways in Calabria; Italian)
- Beppe Sinchetto: L'ultima cremagliera. In: I Treni Oggi. No. 72, June 1987, pp. 19-24. (The last cog railway; Italian)
- Fascicolo linea 143. Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. (Italian)
- Variant di tracciato Paola - Castiglione Cosentino. On: Ferrovie abbandonate, accessed January 1, 2018. (Italian)
