Val Gardena Railway

The Val Gardena Railway or Klausen-Plan (Grödnertalbahn in German) 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 km (20.2 miles) 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 1,595m above sea level.[3] It closed on 28 May 1960.[4][5] A 3.5km 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]

For route map and other data concerning line see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q634597.

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