Rolling Stock Archives

The archive houses the drawings produced by the “Servizio Materiale e Trazione” Department which was set up in 1905 and disbanded in 1986. The drawings and plans were drawn up and catalogued by thosesector’s charged with studying, constructing and provisioning rolling stock: engines, passenger carriages and goods wagons.

This vast collection of technical drawings comes from the historical Florentine site in Via Spartaco Lavagnini (formerly known as Viale Regina Margherita), where, in 1908 all the department’s offices were grouped together following the incorporation of Meridionali’s (Company for the Southern Railways, SFM) residual lines.

The drawings were issued over the years in the Rolling Stock Albums which the department itself published. From 1915 onwards the  “Servizio Materiale e Trazione” Department published its designs (figures and diagrams) together with the relevant technical data produced by its planning units and engine and vehicle r&d departments.

The archive houses thousands of blueprint scrolls and volumes of indexed lists of traction engines known as “distinte” and of engine-drawn stock known as “cartelle”.

Over 3000 technical drawings resulting from the design of around 400 pieces of rolling stock from the mid-1800s through to the 1970s can be sourced on the archive website.

The Historical Drawings Archive is the most complete and direct source for any study on the history of Ferrovie dello Stato’s rolling stock technology.