In 1928, the Italian State Railways marked one historical milestone in their history by starting fabrication of this electric locomotive: it was the switch to the direct current electrical feeding system, still in use at our days, that brought to the quick decline of steam traction in the following years. After an experimental period, 14 prototypes were fabricated and 85 locomotives entered regular service in 1931. The class ended to consist of 448 units in total in 1939. Of them, 385 were still in use for freigth trains in the '80s. Today, 12 locomotives of this class are efficient and classified as historical locomotive by Trenitalia to haul vintage trains.

Photo by Luca Catasta

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