Fat Controller Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Thank you for posting these pictures - such a pity that you didn't have better weather, though. As to your visit to the rack railway and, as you say, ' It would have been nice if the tourist office who sold me the historic transport ticket had said it wasn't working', I have a feeling that the Italian(s) concerned are somewhat like the French (OK, I am generalising a bit) in that if you ask the right question, you will get the right answer and more…but if you don't, or don't know which questions to ask, information is unlikely to be offered. I have got into the habit, after many years here, of ending almost every such conversation by asking 'is there anything else I need to know about [whatever the subject might be]?' ! Goes back to the Latin; when asking the question, you've got to know the answer you want. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Great photos, but your commentary was equally enjoyable. Thank you for sharing them with us. I had no idea just how picturesque the line along the coast was - very tempting! One question, though. The gorgeous little tramcar No.209, at the terminus of the rack line - where did it come from? Cheers, Mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Goes back to the Latin; when asking the question, you've got to know the answer you want. Such as thinks: 'should I take an umbrella?' Q "O Caesar, on this march might the Postilion be struck by lightning?" A "only if the Vanguard is holding his umbrella high" thinks 'that's exactly what I wanted to know' dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 12, 2016 Author Share Posted June 12, 2016 ... One question, though. The gorgeous little tramcar No.209, at the terminus of the rack line - where did it come from? ... There's no info on the GTT site (the Turin transport authority that runs the line), but on the Italian wikipedia page for Turin's trams: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rete_tranviaria_di_Torino it says 209 is the only preserved one of a batch of 20 built in 1912. Also found this page (Italian only) with a lot more info: http://www.tramditorino.it/tram_209.htm It's not a rack-fitted one, but it was built for Turin. And there's loads of Turin tram pictures here: http://www.museodeltram.it/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 14, 2016 Author Share Posted June 14, 2016 One more postscript. I had a rummage round and found an old album from my first visit to Turin in 1981, from which this tram photo cleaned up reasonably well: Appears to be the same body design as in post 20 on the other page, only the roof equipment has changed from bow collectors trolley poles to pantographs. According to http://www.tramditorino.it/tram_serie_2800.htm, the changeover to pantographs was in 1991. [Edited after zooming in a bit on both photos, and again after looking up defintions of bow collectors and trolley poles. Every day's a schoolday] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted June 14, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2016 I have only travelled in Northern Italy but likewise found people very helpful. I do manage to speak a bit of Italian but can't understand their replies! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 .... I do manage to speak a bit of Italian but can't understand their replies!.... Its always been the other way round for my wife and me. We can generally grasp the gist of Italian conversation, but get totally tongue tied when it comes to responding. So much so that it was totally humiliating when students would stop me and ask me to reply to them in English - though I'd spent a winter of evening classes trying to master conversational Iti. dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium brushman47544 Posted June 28, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 28, 2016 And the view south from the station, a local service to Milan, with typical Italian regional coaches, push-pull with a single-ender loco: Domo local train to Milan.jpg Very nice to see some photos of Italian trains for a change, thanks. I spend several weeks there each year on family holidays and rarely seem to take photos of trains. That regional train from Domo is notable in that the first three coaches are of three different types, something I've only seen regularly in this part of northern Italy. Elsewhere regional train formations are now rather more consistent, as in your photos at Rapallo. Behind the E.464 loco is a UIC-X, of which there are not many left in service except in the "more blue" XPMR livery in sleeper trains. Behind that is an MDVC regional coach with double doors at 1/3 and 2/3 along the bodyside, followed by an MDVE regional coach with single end doors. The MDVC and MDVE coaches are currently being refurbished, with new windows and air-conditioning. The refurbished ones have narrow top ventilators whereas the unrefurbished ones have bigger top panes that can be wound down to create a wonderful draft on a hot day. The ViValto double deck coach you photographed later is in the new regionale colour scheme, being painted on Units and E.464 locos but I've yet to see it on any MDVC or MDVE coaches following refurbishment. Here's a photo of a set I took at Roma Termini in December. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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