FS Class 835
The Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Class 835 is a steam locomotive; it was the standard steam shunter of the FS.
Design and construction
The Class 835 was derived from the work of the Turin offices of the Rete Mediterranea, and the previous experiences with the Class 829 and Class 830; especially from the latter, the Class 835 took the boiler, coupled with an engine with enlarged cylinders.The first 97 locomotives, all built by Ernesto Breda until 1908, had only the counter-pressure steam brake; subsequent locomotives all had the air brakes.
In all, 370 Class 835 locomotives were built between 1908 and 1922 (with the pause imposed by World War I, by Breda, Ansaldo, Reggiane and Officine Meccaniche, making the class one of the most numerous to circulate on Italian railways.
Service
Nicknamed "Cirilla" or "Pierina", the Class 835 locomotives spent their careers on shunting duties throughout all the Italian network; in the 1930s, several of them were loaned to other private railways or to private companies.Three of them remained in Yugoslav territory after World War II and were taken over by the Yugoslav Railways with the same running numbers.
Between the 1950s and 1960s, the frames, wheels and coupling rods of several Class 835 locomotives were used in building 40 Class E.321 and 20 Class E.322 electric shunting locomotives, and 29 Class D.234 diesel-hydraulic shunters.
The Class 835 soldiered on until the end of regular steam services on the FS, with some 30 locomotives being still active in the early 1980s.