Sunday, January 2, 2011

more at Varigotti


The reason we didn't include a Google map view with our post of the three-phase electric railcar near Varigotti on the Italian Riviera is that the railway now by-passes the Mediterranean coast here. On 12 May 1977 the inauguration of the new railway line Varazze - Savona - Finale Ligure, almost entirely in tunnel, took place. This replaced the old line which, following the coast, also served Noli and Malpasso.
 
In fact, the station had already closed before 12 May, to be exact on 10 April, due to the collapse of a tunnel blocking the passage of trains.
The original line, which was built in 1868 and officially inaugurated four years later, had been limited to Noli from mid April to mid May 1977 until the opening of the new line. Two years after the new line opened the tracks were removed.

Ghost railway explorers will find as usual that the roadbed has been replaced with car parks, footpaths and local roads. Some galleries were abandoned to themselves and the portals were left standing in cement (good ones built in Malpasso in 1950 following a landslide that had derailed a train, killing two drivers, are visible). Others are partially collapsed. In some fiber optic cable was routed in 2001. 
At Varigotti there are still many visible signs of the old line, including the gallery of Punta Crena (now paved and pedestrian), the train station (fully restored), the passenger building at the rear of the parish church of San Lorenzo and the old formation.

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