The 645 locos of Milano Smistamento depot
In a flat world of anonymous colors of the new xmpr FS scheme and of logo-sticks in excess over many locos, a little reality is growing up on the columns of rail magazines: the heritage liveried locos of Milano Smistamento depot. Since 1999 some railfans, thanks to the collaboration of workers and chief-technicians of this plant, have applied diverse color schemes on some locos assigned here, while they were under repairs or overhaulings. In the begin it was a silent thing, but after some works even a famous modellistic train firm gave money and sponsor to operate on a pair of locos. For this meaning on some locos appropriate labels have taken place, overall to remember the particolarity of these units to all railway men working with them, even in shops where they will get repairs in the future. In these cases infact, the risk of a new color dressing is always around the corner. And this just to let apart those jerks who have stolen builders plates and front FS panels from some of these locos (E.645.082 and 104) just to give food to an underground hated market of these kind of pieces. The locos interested by these heritage operations are 13: 11 E.645s of Cargo division and 2 E.646s of Regionale division. For all the locos the owner depot is Milano Smistamento, even if the 2 E.646 are in asset to Milano San Rocco plant. The list comprehend: E.645.015 (Tibb, 1960, former E.646.035), E.645.023 (OM-Marelli, 1959, former E.646.020), E.645.025 (Tibb, 1959, former E.646.009). These three units are now in their two tones brown original livery, with front winged logos. The E.645.021 instead (Tibb,1959, former E.646.013) has now the scheme it carried before the trasformation in 645, happened in 1962. The colors are dark green and light grey, with front labels and front green wings by the typical design. Immediately in many places this loco has been considered a true fake one, because the rebuilding of 1962 modified many little parts, like air stakes, grids that now don't match with this historic livery. These rumors don't waste the true meaning of this operation: it has been many important nationwide, because it opens a door to the dialogue between FS/Trenitalia and Cargo and railfans on the possibility to preserve on some locos a color apart from that one planned. From this step infact others paved the way, for example the Graf club in Roma on the E.636.117, painted in grey and blue, like in the past was the now scrapped E.636.080. Other units are: E.645.033 (Tibb, 1963), E.645.034 and 037 (Tibb, 1963/64). These three locos of the second batch have always carried the two tones brown colors with aluminium stripes eliminated in the 70's. All the units are converted in this colors, after having passed a period with the only brown semplificate scheme. Of these 3, the 037 one had stripped away during a repair its front iron logos, now ugly replaced by sticks emblems made in the same style. The unit 645.082 (Savigliano, 1965) instead of the others have been worked in December 2000, painted like the before mentioned three but plus a sort of painted aluminium stripes, this because the original metallic trims had all gone. Even with this fault the loco looks really great! Another unit of the second serie is the E.645.040 (Tibb, 1964), rested for many months stored due to a fire in damage of demolition. Here the milanese railfans played a big game, taking back from the past a vanished color scheme in dark and light blue. This was applied in the 50's/60's to two E.646 (035 and 037) scheduled to haul the famous "Treno Azzurro" (blue train). Even this operation didn't like to many other railfans, because the unit sporting this new livery is even of another group. But choosin a 646 was impossible, because their heavy trasformations under the push-pull rebuilding. Windows, grids and many other things are far from the original look, mainteined instead on E.645s. The look is really surprising, even if it has been really difficult go back to right blue tones: no acceptable color photos exist of the original locos to help the work. The last two locos are E.645.101 (Tibb, 1958, former E.646.001) and 104 (Tibb, 1959, former E.646.004), painted in first months of 2000 in the original grey/green scheme sported before the rebuilding in 645. Between the two locos a difference is in the front emblem, which on the 101 is made up by long letters F and S, as it carried when outshopped and for some of its early years of service. They lose this lettering for a normal shield and then they get the normal two tones brown color. All these locos are in normal service all over Italy heading freights of diverse categories, even if in some special occasions they pulled passengers trains, for example the VSOE worked three times by E.645.021,101 and then 040. Right now the 021 is under major over hauling in general shop in Verona, where precise instructions told to workers about mainteining the heritage livery. Other two units played in Smistamento are E.646.158 and 204 (Breda, 1964), actually scheduled on local and regional trains around Milano with push-pull consists. The 158 has received grey and green colors carried until the 80's; in this manner it trailed a pair of historic trains and an express train. This unit now - after having been hitten by fuckin writers - has an ugly look, with a side completely graffited and the other partially re-painted during a short term stop in depot. Right the short time of this stop didn't permit a complete operation, now waited for the next October, with some variations. The 204 was colored in the first push-pull scheme, with dark grey roof and a orange square on the fronts. Now it has been covered with xmpr film. Last months have seen an official agreement of the work done until here by the Cargo chiefs, who approved to officiality the mainteining of heritage liveries on the majority of the locos, becoming in this way "historic locos every day working". This process had to pass along consolidate ways and a known preservation group had to host and joined this operations. So CCF (Comitato Cultura Ferroviaria - Railway Culture Committee) came in, as probably the best group to follow this attempt to bring to railfans, railway men and even simple travellers colors and appearances now lost.