D.345 : a generational change by A.Canale
In Italy road diesel locos have never had an important role, as for example they have in Germany, France or UK; the FS network has been electrified early on its important lines, and on branch or local lines steam traction could again do its work well as in the past. Here a great number of relatively recent locos with right qualities (740, 741,743, 625,640,640) was added to a typical italian train, the light dmu's, able to do every service on every condition of trackage, even the poorest of many after war branches. After some big prototypes built in the 50's (D.442 and D.461) by private factories to be tested on FS rails, statal railways choose a directory to built their future diesel locos: medium power with charcteristics right for those poor branches mentioned above. First locos were still among the debate between diesel-electric and diesel-hydraulic engines, so 2 different groups with the two philosophies were made up: D.341 with electric trasmission and D.342 with hydraulic trasmission, used to start the replacement of steam on best services on important non electrified lines. The regular exercise made the choice of the electric trasmission and the "Rollin stock and Traction Department" begin to study a kind of loco unified in spare parts to serve important and even secondary lines. The project that will characterize the next 35 years of diesel age in Italy was in these terms:
- a diesel engine generator with high reliability and low manutention
- single engine boogies
- low traction castle
- max. velocity under 130 km/h
- low weight per axle to being able to run on every kind of rails
With these rules in 1966 until 1970, 50 units of the new group D.443 are built, plus other 75 units of the less powerful group D.343. These 125 units run on all not electrified lines of FS, starting to erase the steam services, but not yet at the point of cuthem back totally. But their common use is so appreciate that FS dediced to buy other 70 locos same of 343, but now called D.345, other 75 units will come in 1973 and 1975, totally amounting the group on 145 units. These locos numbered in 1001 to 1145 serie will be for many years the most numerous and important group of FS rolling stock list. Locos have been built from many firms: Breda, Sofer and Savigliano as a better version of D.343. They maintain same carbody, same engine but they have no mail room, became uselessy. The boogies are upgraded to match more reliability than the predecessors and the same single-engine model is again applied on modern D.445 and even on electric FNM E.620 built in 1984. The D.345 locos started to begin service in Alessandria' depot, the last bastion of north' steam, in 1974. In this first period they helped the conversion operations of the last lines in alternate threephases current, trailing trains in outwired sections of lines. Our locos went then in Novara, Torino and Padova's depot (here in place of older D.342) startin a stock rotation among depots razing time by time steam services in all Italy. In 1976/77 they reach Udine, Verona, Pisa, Benevento and Cagliari. After they erased steam traction in Piemonte, Pisa's units ended even last regular steam of 940 in Garfagnana, while units in Fortezza's depot stole last trains to strange survivers 741 in Pusteria valley line. While the rule was see a 345 on local and freight services on the branch lines, some units get more important trains, as in Sardegna, Sicilia and with the "Freccia delle Dolomiti" train on the Calalzo line. At the beginning of the 80's, with new push-pull coaches, some D.345 had a 78 lines connector to tele-control trains. To avoid the lack of electric heating, some diesel electric generator cars are built to travel between loco and coaches. In the second part of the 80's, our locos have to supply the roles of oldest locos - D.341 and D.342 - going under scrapping, while newest D.445 take place in the best services. In the 90's - with an increasing of freight service - some units received mu apparatus. Actually 143 units are in service, of these 3 are leased to FSE, 28 have the push pull apparatus, 19 have the mu one. With the planned withdrawn of 343 locos in next years, and the continuos works to electrificate lines, our locos probably will go to services even less important. A peculiarity of our loco is their international plaied role, as some units have gone or are still going now under outside Italy services. In Fortezza's depot they usually met austrian locos in San Candido border station. More important was the freight services on the Tenda line with Cuneo-Nice and return freights made up by Cuneo's depot locos and more with the international train Bern-Albenga, all services now ended. A Stranger service again done is the mixed freights from Gorizia to Nova Gorica, in Slovenia. Here some freights travelling between these two stations had a single coach used by international commuters. Another peculiarity of these trains is the totally absence on every timetable, classified as freights. On this same line, during a working season, these locos trail Expresses 220/221 from Ginevra to Vinkovci diverted here. Even far went some units from diverse depots used in 1996 to 2000 in Bosnia and Kosovo with the Railway military companion in rebuilding works on lines destroyed by the war.