The Ferrovie dello Stato Foundation is celebrating its first ten years with the presentation of the cultural project “TRAIN STORIES”, which starts in Rome and is aimed at Italian primary school pupils. It is the creation of an illustrated volume, published by the SCCI group, presented at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the aim of which is to improve property, vehicles and people, and national highways. Present were the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Senator Matteo Salvini, Director General of the FS Italiane Foundation, Engineer Luigi Cantamessa, President of Euroma2 and SCCI Group, Davide M. Zanchi, Advisor of the FS Italiane Foundation. Deputy Prime Minister Davide Bordoni as well as numerous students of Roman primary schools received the volume as a gift.
Once upon a time, one means of transportation could be moved… a horse and a donkey, then a unicycle and a bicycle, followed by carriages. Then the steam engine was invented and cars and trains began to move. In 1804, Richard Trevithick built the first steam locomotive that traveled short distances in England. She was nicknamed “the snarling devil”. In 1829, George and Robert Stephenson constructed the English Rocket steam locomotive that could travel long distances. It was built for a locomotive competition.
The first section of the Italian railway connected the city of Naples with Portici. It was designed by French engineer Armand Joseph Bayard de la Vingtrie. The royal palace was located in Portici, where the royal family moved during the summer months. During the first voyage, 258 passengers boarded the train, including the King.” Thus begins the “Train Stories”, a fascinating story spanning more than a century that led the Italian state railways to become a forerunner and an international technical and organizational point of reference. Through the archive and historical samples kept at the National Railway Museum in Pietrarse, students will chronologically trace the history of the development of the train with a narrative created through visual maps. The volume was edited by writer Camilla Anselmi, with illustrations by designer Sara Scatragli.
Students will recognize the Bayard locomotive, built in 1939, one of the first to run in Italy, a Royal Post Office carriage, dedicated only to the carriage of correspondence, dating from 1900. The locomotive was nicknamed “Signorina” because it swayed while moving as a young woman; then the Royal Train, a three-phase electric locomotive produced from 1926 to the present day.
“Telling how the first trains started running in our country is like illustrating the history of the train in the world: one of the first railways ever was Naples-Portici, inaugurated on October 3, 1839 – stated the Vice President of the Council and the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Senator Matteo Salvini – It is a story that began almost 2 centuries ago and which now lives again with the wonderful headquarters of the National Railway Museum in Pietrarse and also through the “Timeless Tracks” project, which allows us to trace some of the most beautiful historical lines that cross villages and landscape jewels of our amazing Italy As Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, I am honored to present this small but significant illustrated work of literature to mark the 10th anniversary of the FS Foundation: it will guide our young people through two centuries of history that combined ingenuity, technology and design. Let’s not forget the work of the men and women who made it possible to connect our wonderful Italy faster.”
“Page by page, the history of the nation’s railways, from the first steam locomotive to the ETR 1000, comes to life before the eyes of young students through words and illustrations,” said the engineer Luigi Cantamessa, Director General of the FS Foundation – I am particularly pleased to be able to participate in this important dissemination project, which is very much desired by Davide Maria Zanchi, Director General of SCC Italia, precisely in 2023, an important anniversary for the FS Italiane Foundation, which organized in the middle of his the daily work is the restoration, evaluation, and dissemination of railway culture and its history. A legacy that belongs to the men and women who have always worked on the railways, the travelers of yesterday and today, the training and model enthusiasts, and those who believe in great company.”
“I am honored to have supported the creation of this union because the train represents an ecological means of transport, respectful of the environment, which has its dedicated routes, has greater guarantees of safety, does not create traffic, and does not pollute the environment. With Train Stories, we explain to new generations how transport can take place while respecting the environment. Italian railways were the most widespread in the area. Over the years, some of these railway lines have been decommissioned. I hope that there will be a reversal of the trend of returning to a type of transport that looks at ecology and public health,” he added. Davide M. Zanchi president of Euroma2 and the SCCI group.
“Train Stories” has received the patronage of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Region of Lazio, the capital of the metropolis of Rome, and the Municipality of Rome IX Eur.