The last bastion

Since steam times, the temple was by definition Alessandria's depot. It was there you could find the right ambience, with uses and tradition that in other places in Italy were forgotten: polished buffer plates, maniacal obsession for keeping "your machine" clean, etc. Since "black faces" actions are finished, this depot has always been the last point to serve many local lines of these flat countries and of the monferrato, plus services on Torino-Genova line. And it's on these lines that in the last years older autorail and loco groups did their services as they came here from diverse depots of the network to wait the end. The last bastion of "old traction", the place where go to get a sure shot to units just a remembering in other locations. Now it's 2001 and the turn is for E.424 and ALe.540/840. Many years before them, here were resisting last three-phase locos which, even after 1976 - year of conversion of the last line Alessandria-Acqui Terme - populated this yard in long strings of stored machines waiting for scrapping. Even if assigned to neighbor depots, on lines gravitating on this DL were resisting ALn.990 and ALn.773, also gone by 80's and 90's. Short lines services around Tortona were in charge of old "ocarine" that, assigned to Novi S.Bovo depot, closed here their last revenue services on Novi-Tortona, Alessandria-Ovada and Alessandria-Acqui lines. In substitution then came ALe.840, from Messina, Pisa, Livorno and Bolzano depots. Even if 2 units still operable resist in this last depot, is in Alessandria that other 2 units are in regolar service. This mean all trips between Tortona and Arquata, Tortona and Novi/Voghera. Now that at Bologna's DL just 2 machines of 540's group survive - rarely used - the chance to see travelling this kind of ALe's is here in Alessandria. So now 840 and 540 work together, also last 2 units of 3rd serie - those similar to ALe.601 - even if their exterior state is not so good. Among these 2 units there is the last one in original livery and the last one of the few repainted in simplified scheme during the 80's. Let's tell you that it's still simply take pictures of these trains, but here again you have to consider those fuckin writers that in this period have damaged ALe.840.067 - still with original glasses - and ALe.540.028 with her beautiful livery. The other group living last times here is E.424 one, concentrated here adding last 5 units coming from Cosenza's DL to Alessandria's fleet. This now ammount to 13 units, still working on local services with loco-hauled passenger trains on these lines: Alessandria-Acqui Terme, Piacenza-Voghera-Tortona-Alessandria, Fossano-Savona, Milano P.ta Genova-Mortara-Alessandria, Novara-Oleggio-Luino, Novara-Arona and Novara-Mortara. In 2 cases - train n°20384 Piacenza-Voghera and n°10356 Novara-Oleggio - MU is still provided, even if in many cases loco E.636 substitute them. Once these services will be finished, what group will come here to finish his career? First could be ALn.668.1500, now travelling Lomellina's lines, then maybe E.636 locos. Instead, it's not clear what kind of ALe will come to this depot for Short services around Tortona, because the last group "single coach type" is the ALe.601 serie, now working other kind of services. Probably this will mean ceasing passenger services on these lines. And now click here to see some images!