Val Gardena Railway

The Val Gardena Railway or Klausen-Plan (Italian: Ferrovia della Val Gardena, German: Grödner Bahn, Ladin: Ferata de Gherdëina) was a 760 mm (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in) narrow gauge railway operating in the Val Gardena in the Dolomites of northern Italy. It was constructed in 1915/6 when the region was part of the Austrian Empire. Construction was remarkably rapid: begun in September 1915, the line was completed and opened on 6 February 1916.^[1] This feat was accomplished by the conscripted labour of some 6,000 Russian prisoners of war.^[2] The railway was 32.5 kilometres (20.2 mi) long, ran between Chiusa (Klausen) and Plan, and had the distinction of being the highest line operated by FS with a summit (at Plan) of 1,595 metres (5,233 ft) above sea level.^[3] It closed on 28 May 1960.^[4]^[5] A 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long section between Santa Cristina Val Gardena and Ortisei is now a public footpath, the Val Gardena Railway Trail.^[6]

One of the locomotives preserved in a local park.

Locomotive no. R 410.004 (FS numbering) is preserved adjacent to the Railway Trail at Ortisei. It is an outside cylinder 0-8-0 well tank with outside frames which was built in 1916 by Krauss of Linz (works number 7174) as no. 4154 Class IVc for the KUK Heeresbahn (Austro-Hungarian Military Railways). It was one of seven similar locomotives which worked on the line.^[7]

Locomotive FS R.410.004 of the Val Gardena Railway, restored and with new livery
Locomotive FS R.410.004 of the Val Gardena Railway, restored and with new livery