National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa (Italy)

This time the Railway Heritage World Blog went to Naples in Italy. On September 9, 2017, we visited the old Reale Opificio Meccanico Pirotecnico di Pietrarsa (Royal Workshop for Mechanical Works, Ammunition production).

What does it have to do with the Italian railway heritage? Well, everything started when Ferdinando II di Borbone, in 1840, had a visionary look, he built an industrial complex to meet the needs of the War, the port and the railway. Currently, this complex holds the National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa.

Around 1845, the Russian emperor Zar Nicola I visited the workshop. He was so amazed that he wanted to build an industrial center like that one in Kronstadt, Russia.

We hope you enjoy it too!

History

A drawing of the industrial complex (1842) exposed in the museum.

The first building of the complex was completed in 1842; it was used to produce artillery and for training warship drivers. The Mechanic Office supported a big production, it was the first center of industrial production around the Italian Peninsula, but it did not produce locomotives yet.

This workshop is located in Portici, same town where the first Italian railway was inaugurated in 1839. However, it just started to build locomotives after the Regia Strada Ferrata da Napoli to Caserta was inaugurated in 1843 for military purposes. Even like that, the first wagons were built in England, only in 1848 the first wagon, called Smith, was built in the Regia Ferrovia office.

In 1860 the Borbon Realm fell, so all the complex was reclaimed by the Italian Government. One year later, the Engineer Sebastiano Grandis wrote a report against the maintenance of the complex, proposing the complex demolition.

Well, that did not happen. Bozza Company took on the complex management in 1863, but its policies made the workers rise up against the company. After a shootout, Bozza Company wanted to end its contract and the National Company of Mechanical Industries took on the complex management.

In 1877 the Italian Government took on the complex management again, but its production started to decrease. Since 1905 until 1930 the production system have been improved, but during the Second World War, and due to the creation of the diesel and electric train systems, the workshop had its production reduced to work only with the maintenance and repairs of few existing steam locomotives. The workshop resisted until 1975; two years later Fondazione FS Italiane allowed Pietrarsa to become the first National Railway Museum, inaugurated in 1989!

The Building and the Exhibition

This museum was a really nice experience. It is a whole complex very well preserved, full of restored trains. To arrive there was very easy. We took the metro at the Amadeo Metro Station in Naples and we went directly to the Museum. The train stop is right in front of the museum, at a small station.

The workers there were very kind, they were really interested in why we were there and how we knew about the museum. They gave us a map in the entrance and told us to start our tour watching a small video. This video was something else! It started with a projection on the wall and after that on a train, showing its inside parts working, it is very didactic and fun!

The second part of this presentation was in another room, and the projection was on an old wagon. A family was watching the video too, one of its members was very touched in the end of it; he really knew about railway, he walked all over the exhibition explaining the kids about the trains.

After the video, which was exhibited inside the ex-assembly pavilion, currently the steam locomotives pavillian, we could see many old steam locomotives. They were all very well conserved. There were some holes on the floor, as if we could go down and repair some of the machines. Other locomotives were located on inclined tracks to show the system used to climb up a track.

All the trains had signs explaining its history and some technical information. There were some machines that the kids could interect with.

The building is very well preserved. In that day some party, probably a wedding, was been organized in this pavilion.

To go to the other pavilion we passed through a really pleasant place. We could see the Naples Golf, and the old rotating platform. When we were getting closer to see the details we realized that everything was well thought. Even the plants of the garden have signs with their specifications. A really meticulous work!

The next two big buildings were the boiler and oven areas. Currently, they exhibit some wagons motor car. Did you see a prison train already? Well, in this exhibition you can get in this one as the same time as you can be in a first or a second class wagon. The wagons were connected by some platforms to facilitate their access.

The other pavilions, where the forge shop, spring centre and boiler pipes were, have a projection room and the exhibition of machinery and tools of the old workshop. One of them is very small and it is used as a coffee shop.

In the old Catheadral, composed by ogive arches, there were some photos together with a rail transport modelling.

Ah! We can not forget to mention the huge iron statue of Ferdinando II di Borbone, which indicated "the site where the first railway workshops of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the entire Peninsula would be built."

Final Considerations

This museum has a really rich exhibition, everything is very well preserved. As a part of the history of the first italian railway, the National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa building was very well renovated. The locomotives, the machines and the tools really preserve their magnificence and features. The photos exhibition show us impressive historical facts. While we were there, we kept thinking how the workers and the citizens of Portici would tell this history.

If you want to know more about this Railway Heritage, go to the Museum Official Web Site!