Naples and Campania (with added Pietrarsa national rail museum) April 2022

[eastwestdivide]

Earlier this month I managed a week in Naples, flying from Heathrow as my travelling companion didn't have the spare time for an overland trek.

 

We stayed in Naples and did the touristy stuff of going up Vesuvius, visiting the Roman ruins at Pompei, boat* to the island of Procida in the Bay of Naples, and bus** along the twisty Amalfi coast and over to Sorrento. In amongst all of that I did manage to take some train photos and visit the Italian national rail museum at Pietrarsa.

 

* When they say "see Naples and die" ("vedi Napoli e poi muori" according to Goethe of all people), they may be referring to the catamaran/hydrofoil to the isle of Procida. As soon as it was round the corner of the harbour and away, I said "who thought this was a good idea?". 35 mins of a 40 minute journey feeling very seasick, despite an empty stomach, and when I got back on dry land, it still felt like it was moving. I couldn't even walk straight for over half an hour, or eat for most of the rest of the day. We came back on a slower car ferry - no problem at all.

 

** Recommended for spectacular sea views from twisty roads, continuous horn from the driver, and suicidal bikers. 

 

First up, some FS/Trenitalia trains.

 

Although the central station Napoli Centrale is a terminus station, there's a 'passante' or underground through line (not quite Crossrail or the Paris RER, but that kind of arrangement) for suburban services marketed as Metro line 2, but run by FS Trenitalia with a mixture of old suburban units on the shorter runs (Pozzuoli-Gianturco I think) and newer 'Jazz' units on the longer runs down the coast to Pompei and over to Salerno.

 

Distant view of Napoli Central from St Elmo's castle:

 

Salerno 'Jazz' train at Piazza Garibaldi (same complex as Napoli Centrale):

 

Ditto at Pompei:

 

 

The older trains with plastic seats and a lot of standing room:

 

 

A Linea Cumana train at Pozzuoli heading for Napoli Montesanto:

 

And the Rome-Sicily train (via the train ferry), with a single-ender E464 loco at each end of 8 IC coaches. We caught this to Salerno for the bus to Amalfi.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Next, the independent Circumvesuviana narrow-gauge system, run by the local transport authority EAV. It's a bit unloved, with virtually every train covered in graffiti, hard bum-numbing seats, no air-con and a bumpy ride. I've been on more comfortable trams. And yet it's the only train to Sorrento, and the most convenient for the Roman ruins at Herculaneum (Ercolano) and Pompei:

 

 

 

I wonder if the old carriage at Sorrento would have been more comfortable:

 

We also managed a free ride on one of the funiculars, as the ticket machines were broken:

 

[eastwestdivide]

You might have to wait until tomorrow for the museum photos - I took a lot and need to sort out a decent selection. If there's any requests in the meantime, I'll see if I can fulfil them.

 

As a taster, the working Solari(?) departures board in the museum. I watched it flip over for ages, mesmerised.

 

[eastwestdivide]

And so to the Fondazione FS museum at Pietrarsa, on the coast just a couple of stops south from central Naples. The station is right next door, and you get €1 off the entrance price (€6 normally) by showing a valid rail ticket, which at €1.30 single from Naples gives you a cheap afternoon out.

Station and connection into museum via a sector plate. Looked unused in recent times but not impossible to connect:

 

 

 

There's another sector plate further in:

 

General view showing the water's edge:

 

The main hall is wide and bright, with a lot of locos:

 

 

More locos and rolling stock in other halls...

Here, a Tartaruga with tortoise/turtle cartoon:

 

 

 

[eastwestdivide]

And continuing on round, more rolling stock, some weirder than others.

A 'Centoporte' (100 doors) coach with wooden seats:

 

Assorted railcars:

 

A D341 loco in a hall that included machinery (the site had been an engineering works):

 

Interior of a prisoner transport car with cells:

 

Light shunting loco converted from a former railmotor with the coach bit sawn off:

 

There's also a hall of models, including a G gauge (?) one of Tirano with the RhB sneaking into the background:

 

And a model of the Sicily train ferry:

 

 

Good value for the amount of stuff in there I thought. It's almost exclusively Italian exhibits, mostly in the standard livery of black steam locos and brown other stuff!

It wasn't crowded on an April Saturday afternoon. 

[EddieB]

Excellent stuff!  The museum looks well laid out, spacious and bright.  Did you use/need a tripod, and if so, was there any problem?  (The Da Vinci museum in Milano can be difficult in that regard.

 

Still trying to persuade the family that they need to see Pompeii, Vesuvius and other places of interest nearby!

[eastwestdivide]

10 hours ago, EddieB said:

Excellent stuff!  The museum looks well laid out, spacious and bright.  Did you use/need a tripod, and if so, was there any problem?  (The Da Vinci museum in Milano can be difficult in that regard.

 

Still trying to persuade the family that they need to see Pompeii, Vesuvius and other places of interest nearby!

Thanks. They were all hand held on a compact camera or my phone. Weather partly sunny, partly cloudy while in the museum, so no problems at all. Most of the exhibits had info boards with the same information in Italian and slightly dodgy English. Books and gifts in the shop. They occasionally run a special historic train from Naples to the museum, but I couldn’t find any info on dates when we went.

Pompei is huge, on a completely different scale to any Roman remains in the UK. Vesuvius you have to book your trip to the crater online - there are no booking facilities at the top of the road. In fact hardly any facilities at the top at all, after a forest fire a few years ago: a few shanty town tourist tat stalls and a basic caff. There’s a service bus from Pompei, far cheaper than any of the organised tours, but packed out, so take your pick! 

[eastwestdivide]

For @EddieB...

 

Typical museum info board:

 

Cafe and tourist tat, the only facilities as you get off the bus at the top of the road to Vesuvius:

 

[5944]

2 hours ago, eastwestdivide said:

They occasionally run a special historic train from Naples to the museum, but I couldn’t find any info on dates when we went.

No "Pietrarsa Expresses" advertised this year at present. In previous years they were top and tailed with a pair of E626 electric locos, but they had the copper stolen out of them. Last year was a pair of E656 electric locos instead, not nearly as interesting sadly.

[5944]

Incidentally, this popped up on Facebook this morning.

 

https://fb.watch/cyBWh6H9Og/

 

Hopefully that link will work, even if you don't do Facebook. 2-8-2T 940.036 was sectioned a few years ago, but has recently been placed on rollers and become an interactive exhibit. Certainly looks a more interesting and educational way of doing it than just hacking a loco apart.

[eastwestdivide]

Aha. I saw that sectioned loco but didn’t realise it was interactive like that. Thanks

[eastwestdivide]

Ticket tips: 

Top - don’t forget to validate (convalidare) your regional/local tickets in the validators before travel

Bottom - entrance ticket to the Pietrarsa museum, front and back showing reduction for travel by train

 

[jamie92208]

Thanks for posting these.  Fascinating.  I'm sorry that I didn't get more chance to see the rail network in 2011.  As to your comments about Pompeii. It is huge and I could easily have spent a whole day wandering around.  Very poignant in places.  

 

Jamie

[EddieB]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Thanks for posting these.  Fascinating.  I'm sorry that I didn't get more chance to see the rail network in 2011.  As to your comments about Pompeii. It is huge and I could easily have spent a whole day wandering around.  Very poignant in places.  

 

Jamie

Indeed.  My only visit to Campania was as a teenager on a family package holiday in Sorrento (travelling by train to Naples).  We booked on a day excursion to Vesuvius and Pompeii - the coach was late, and by the time we'd visited a "craft centre" (commission for the courier) we didn't have time to do justice to either attraction.

 

I do intend to go back - but whether with my family (preferred) or alone I'm not sure.  In the meantime, I much appreciate seeing what I'm missing!

[brushman47544]

Very interesting. I still haven't managed to travel by train in Italy south of Napoli or visited the Pietrarsa Museum. I thought all the old EMUs around Napoli had now been replaced but perhaps replacements have been ordered but some not yet in service. The Jazz units are certainly a step up in comfort. New trains are also being ordered for the Circumvesuviana.

 

The use of a pair of E464s top and tail on the Roma - Sicily InterCity Sun trains is new and is an attempt to remove shunting on and off the train ferry across the Messina Strait. The maximum speed of 160kmh means longer journey times on the mainland (compared to the E402 and E403 locos previously used) but makes no real different in Sicily. Top and tail E464s are also planned to be used on overnight trains from north to south Italy. Whether all such trains or just those going to Sicily I'm not sure.