Tortona-Castelnuovo Scrivia railway

The first projects of ferrate roads around Tortona date back to 1878, when engineer Pietro Frascaroli published a report on the construction of a series of steam routes between Tortona, Serravalle Scrivia, Volpedo, Sale and Castelnuovo Scrivia^[1]. This report was supported by the municipality of Tortona, by the Banca dei Piccoli Prestiti e Cassa di Risparmio of Tortona and by the surrounding municipalities^[2].

In 1885 the Circolo del Commercio di Castelnuovo Scrivia proposed the construction of a tram linking the city, the largest centre of the town. around Tortona after the capital, at Pontecurone stationThe proposal was rejected. Most successful was the proposal made in 1889 by the municipality of Castelnuovo Scrivia to that of Tortona for the opening of an economic railway^[3]; in 1893 the two communes formed a consortium for the construction of an economic railway with normal discarding, to which it was granted the following year.^[4].

The works, entrusted to the company Callegaris of Bologna, ended on 7 October 1895^[5]; the line was inaugurated on 20 October^[6]. In 1903 the railway operated five pairs of trips daily (plus an additional pair on Saturdays), covering the route in 25 minutes^[7].

In 1914, the Consortium that managed the railway decided to cede the exercise and property of the line to the Anonymous Society of Tramvies in Vapore of the Province of Alessandria, also known as the "Belga", which in province of Alessandria managed the lines Alessandria-Sale, Marengo-Mandrogne and Alessandria-Casale, in addition to the tranvies Tortona-Sale and Tortona-Monleale, from it found in the same year^[8].

As time passed, the line was no longer able to satisfy the needs of local populations. He thought of electrifying the line or using motions to accumulators, but this was not possible^[9]. The line closed on 10 March 1933 and was replaced on the following 1 August by buses from the Autotrasporti Company Alessandria (SAA)^[10]. The concession was only terminated in 1944^[11].

The railway was a single rail with an ordinary discard of 1435 mm, entirely in its own seat. It developed for 8,692 km. The curvature radius was 200 meters, the maximum gradient of 16.7 per thousand^[6]. The convoys could reach a maximum speed of 25 km/h^[12].

Five two-axis tranviary steam locomotives were serviced on the railway, built between 1881 and 1882 by Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik and Krauss. As usual at the time, they were baptized with names: respectively Tortona, Camilla, Rome, Mafa And Jolanda^[18].

The towed material consisted of 18 two-axis passenger carriages and 14 cargo tanks; all the rolling stock was used promiscuously also on the routes for Sale and Monleale^[18].

With the absorption of the turtle lines by the "Belga" the rolling stock was also used on other social lines.^[19]; in 1931 the rotabili park of "Belga" for service on Tortona-Castelnuovo Scrivia was composed of a steam locomotive, 5 two-axle trailers and 6 cargo tanks^[20].

• Francesco Ogliari, Franco Sapi, Sparks in the mountains. History of Italian transport vol. 8 and 9. Piemonte- Aosta Valley, edited by the authors, Milan, 1968.
• Francesco Ogliari, Francesco Abate, The steam tram between the Apennines and the Po. Piacenza, Voghera and Tortona, Arcipelago, Milan, 2011. ISBN 978-88-7695-398-9.