Back in the past on the Olimpino mountain
Heavy rain in this November has hitten hardly everywhere on italian ground and have caused some interruptions on FS and private lines. On the FGC Genova-Casella some ground movements damaged the road bed and just some time ago the line has been reopened. On FS side instead the damage has been heavier, reported on the important line to Chiasso, in the new tunnel under the Olimpino mountain, opened in May 1989 to avoid with a better gradient the Como S.Giovanni station and by so avoiding the systematical use of rearpusher locos equipped with a sort of auto-uncoupling system called "maglia sganciabile", to let climb even the heaviest trains along the Saint Abbondio grade. While in the near Valtellina floods were becoming more dangerous, a first interruption between Bivio Rosales and Chiasso took place in the afternoon of november 26, until the same night, for an evident down-move of the trackbed on one of the tracks and water penetrations from the top of the tunnel. From this date the exercise has gone on again on a single track, using sometime the old line via Como station. Yet to this point - december 10 - some trains have had rearpushing, just to those few trains deviated along the old line. Suddenly, after continuous ispections and traffic interruptions, the solution came worst, when in the top of the tunnel has opened a big chasm with falling of the above ground and the degradation of the track laying. At this point, with big damage to those societies which sent via railway big dimension containers (such as Hupac), all the traffic has been diverted on the old line and partially on other Switzerland-Italy border stations, like Domodossola and Luino. Rearpushing is made still now (January 2003) and probably they will go on until March 2003, when the tunnel will SHOULD be re-opened. To the rear pushing service loco E.636 are booked, sent here by Milano Smis.to depot and coming from diverse depots (Livorno, Genova, etc.); usually two units are used every day on the descending freights from Como to Albate Camerlata. On this same trackage were made in the past the "true rear pushing runs", when locos on this service where equipped with the "maglia sganciabile" and the uncoupling move was made near the switch cab of Albate while the train was running. Now freights from Chiasso are received on yard tracks in Como, where the pusher is coupled and then they wait for a green light; as planned, sequence of tweets on departure and then the train goes up on the line to Albate. Here the heading loco stops at the departing signal while a crew man is ready to uncouple the pusher from the last wagon of the train. This loco stands there ready to go back to Como, while the freight re-start its trip bound to Milano. Many units have made this service, even the famous 117 now gone on other services. Nice locations to take pictures are in Como, on the Napoleona street, where from a high place you can see the line with the train and the pusher working; Como station nice for the shunting movements and Albate yard. Some pics are of the actual situation, plus other images from P.Zanin showing the old "real" exercise :