In December and January I spent a few weeks in Italy and could not resist hunting Italian steam power, finding some at the Museo Nazionale Ferroviario Di Pietrarsa, south of Naples.

The museum is housed in the Ferrovie della Stato (FS) former backshop, located right on the shores of the bay of Naples. It contains a fantastic collection of perhaps 100 pieces of equipment including almost 30 steam locomotives. Its truly amazing what the Italians have done here and makes me lament why we couldn't do the same on our side of the Atlantic.

You can get to the museum from Naples by taking FS to the Pietrarsa-San Giorgio e Cremano station, which is literally right next to the shops. DO NOT take the Circumvisuviana train to THEIR San Giorgio e Cremano station (as I did), as they are two separate stations, and you will have to take a lengthy bus ride to the museum. Be sure to buy your return ticket ahead of time as their isn't much of a ticket agency at the FS station (although when I finally got on the train back to Naples, there wasn't a Capotreno on the train to buy a ticket from or bust me for not having a ticket...)

The steam collection is extremely diverse. They have a replica of the first steam locomotive to run in Italy the Bayard, as well as an example of a Crosti boilered engine. Two examples of engines built in the US (one built for Italy in WW1, the other built for the US Army in WW2), several rack engines, and even a locomotive captured from Austria at the end of WW1. (And they are ALL painted red and black...)

There are also examples of electric and diesel locomotives as well as self propelled passenger equipment and rolling stock and they have also retained some equipment such as steam hammers and a KLING rolling mill.

The exterior of the shop also features some nice architecture as well as a great view of the bay of Naples. One very unusual feature of the shop is, instead of turntables or transfer tables to move equipment around, there are two 1/4 turntables (I'm told the modelling community calls them sector plates) that the equipment must navigate to enter the shop.

Its open from 8:30am-1:30pm Monday to Friday. Admission is 5 Euros.

FS Website

FS Brochure (English)

I've posted all my photos of the museum on Facebook. The album has been made public and should be accessible to all.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 625a6e68ec

Thanks for posting! That is an interesting table design.

Guess I should mention explicitly that they have a USATC S160 2-8-0 in the collection, FS 736.114.

Knowing the rabid obsession with that class on this board, I made sure to take plenty of photos...

There is another ALCo made 2-8-0 in the collection FS 735.128, ordered by FS during WW1

Not to mention that the Italians are geniuses for putting together this collection.

How often do you get to compare locomotive construction practices of many different countries and builders under one roof?

I have more to report on Italian railway preservation if anyone is interested. There is some pretty cool stuff over there.

Interested. I like the semi-streamlined locomotives they had over there.

Added more photos to my album, this time general shots of the railway system I encountered. One neat aspect of the Italian Railways is just how much infrastructure has survived.

For example many stations still retain their standpipes! and appear to still be in service. I never noticed them on my first visit, but once I knew to look out for them, I saw them everywhere! (Even Rome)

There is no shortage of Roundhouses either. As soon as I got to Florence, my first objective was to find the roundhouse there (David could wait a bit), which I did find, but it was rather difficult to photograph. Rome still has a full circle roundhouse near Roma Termini, while Naples has TWO! although one appears to be out of use.

Tuscany has a nice preservation scene happening, with the centre for Steam Restoration being in Pistoia, which is north of Florence. The site is run by the group ATTS - ItalVapore, and they even run excursions throughout Tuscany. Their website also states that they have an open house in October, and that private visits can be arranged, and I had hoped to be able to visit, but couldn't get ahold of anyone from the organization.

http://www.italvapore.it/index.html (Italian)
http://www.italvapore.it/eng/blog/ (English)

I also forgot to mention that the Museum in Pietrarsa can also be rented out as a banquet hall! The museum will set up tables where the Transfer Table would run. How cool is that!

We can learn a lot from the Italians. Here is another cool idea.

What do you do with a powerhouse when it is no longer needed? Keep most of the machinery, and turn it into an Art Museum! Thus: Musei Capitolini Centrale Montemartini, a which ran two huge diesel engines as well as a steam turbine. I was just as intrigued with the machinery as I was with the art (which was pretty cool too)

Some more links, from InternationalSteam.co.uk

Guide to Italian Steam Parts 1-3
http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/italy04.htm
http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/italy05.htm
http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/italy06.htm