The

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate services and other services in ...

(FS; Italian State Railways) Class 290 (Italian: ''Gruppo 290''), formerly the Rete Adriatica Class 350 bis, is a

0-6-0 is the Whyte notation designation for steam locomotives with a wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. Historically, this was the most common wheel arrangement used o ...

steam locomotive.

Design and construction

The Class 290 was a development of the earlier Class 270 locomotives, studied under the Rete Adriatica; it kept the wheelbase, but replaced the boiler with a slightly bigger one, with a minimally coned rear ring. Its construction was continued under the new FS management, which made it one of its twelve standard designs; it was the last and most successful 0-6-0 Italian locomotive. The class was built by several Italian and foreign manufacturers, between 1899 and 1913. The first 30 locomotives were fitted with a two-axle tender, with a coal capacity of and a water capacity of ; the subsequent ones were fitted with the three-axle tender that would see widespread service under the FS (especially behind the Class 625 and Class 640 locomotives). The first 112 locomotives were classified as Class RA 350 bis (with running numbers between 3631 and 3742); of these, 52 were taken over by the FS in July 1905 upon formation, while the other 60 were taken over by the new ''Strade Ferrate Meridionali'' (Southern Railways), a rump of the RA, until its incorporation with the FS in July 1906.

Service

The class saw widespread service on the Italian network, with the first members of the class being sent to work as helpers on the steep lines around

Fabriano Fabriano is a town and ''comune'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Fossato di Vico and east of Gubbio (both in U ...

and

Sulmona Sulmona (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of L'Aquila, in the Italy, Italian region of Abruzzo. It is located in the Valle Peligna, a plain once occupied by a lake that disappeared in prehistoric times. In the ancient era, it was ...

. Some locomotives were withdrawn relatively early, but as many as 60 were still active after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; however, their activity ceased by the end of the 1950s.

Preservation

The last member of the class to remain active, the 290.319, survived into preservation; it is currently kept in the Pietrarsa railway museum.

References

* * {{FS locos 0-6-0 locomotives C n2 locomotives

290 __NOTOC__ Year 290 ( CCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1043 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...

Gio. Ansaldo & C. locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1899 Standard-gauge locomotives of Italy Costruzioni Meccaniche di Saronno locomotives Borsig locomotives Breda locomotives Henschel locomotives Maffei locomotives Esslingen locomotives