“La Maratona” in Desenzano del Garda: an example of pre-intermodality

 by Francesco Di Bella

The Verona-Brescia-Coccaglio, first part of the Milano-Venezia line (called "Fernandea" in honor to the Emperor of Austria), was inaugurated on 22nd april 1854. Last works took place after 3 years after the beginning. The original project planned to lay down the line souther than the final building, around Volta Mantovana and Valeggio, but the chief engineer - Luigi Negrelli - was pushing his idea to realize a direct link to the Garda area, even if there was surely an high price to pay because a more difficult ground situation (the big Desenzano viaduct, realized in neo-gothic style and rebuilt with concrete after an air bomb raid on 15/7/1944, stands as example to this hard choice. The link to the harbor (projected already in 1883) was built principally to manage the great commercial trading and succesfully tourism in those years increasing at Desenzano, with goods arriving from all harbors in the lake and town around, yet not linked with statal roads (the east one opened in 1929 and the west one in 1932). Some important paper mills and many little factories were then working in the area and the new economic boom of the new touristic industry was right then borning. After finished embankment works in front of the Mayer hotel (which lasted from 1886 to 1909 - pic1) and built up the new XX settembre square, the link to the harbor and the station was ready to be inaugurated on June,22nd, 1909. The name of the system was Calata Cadorna, but immediatly people renamed it as "the Marathon", because the long trackage (3708 meters) needed to avoid the 50 meters of level difference (see the map). The first track laying to the harbor occupied the area fronting the square, with a station building, a freight one, 2 recovery tracks and one to charge wagons (pics 2-3). In 1919 the yard was back-moved to let a nicer view from the main square of the town directly to the lake. So a bigger dock was built (pic4). The yard mainteined this design until 1955, when the station was demolished. The link was serviced until 12 April 1969, the date you can find on FS service order to rule the closure. The trackage was then completely dismantled and in 1979 a big park lot was built on that area (still called the marathon by inhabitants). As memory of the preceeding function of this place, a plinthed 625.076 steam loco was placed.

Actual situation

So few is remained of freight structure, while is still possible to trace some signs of the old trackage. Of the junction out from Desenzano now it remains just few meters (pic5). Well visible is the embankement that start to go underground near the road to Mirabello location (see the map). The bridge over this piece of roadbed is still in use today (pic6). Yet well conserved is the underpass of the Milano-Venezia line and its access way (pics 7 8 9). All the remaining part of the road is vanished until the cross with the Statal Road 11 (pic10) and its old block-cab, even this completly rebuilt. The unique sign is a short remaining of elevated roadbed near Viale Michelangelo (pic11). From the crossing to the lake all the trackage is now asphalted and used as parking lot or as bike carriage. All the yard area has now a completely diverse looking: all railroad buildings have been razed and now stands the new palace of Navigarda; where before there were tracks now there is the road "lungolago" in the back of which is piazza Malvezzi, now completely redesigned. The solely example of what was here back in the days is now a plinthed steam loco 625.076 (pic12). If it was still operating today, this could have been a nice example of intermodal way of transportation.