Puzzling Italian signal levers—final episode: Terni to L'Aquila, 1990

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Here are my last pictures from our journey to Italy in 1990—they also are puzzling in some respects, like the frames at Pollenza and Cerreto d'Esi. All the following pictures are from stations on the line from Terni to L'Aquila, over the Sella di Corno pass in the Abruzzese Apennines. And on most pictures one can, finally, see men and women who work the frames and control the traffic on that somewhat remote line.

At Marmore, they had two simple levers on a frame for the two home signals. The first picture shows them in the background, near the flag that indicates where the tip of a crossing train should stop:

Lever frame, barrier cranks and stopping flag, Marmore, May 1990

The following image is an enlargement from the previous one. I somehow believe that both levers are seen here in their normal position; and somehow I don't believe it, as the catches would then, very atypically, be at the front of the handles instead of behind them. So, as two trains are meeting here (as can be seen from the red flag), it may very well be that both levers are reversed here.

Question 6: What is the normal position for this type of signal levers?

Lever frame, Marmore, May 1990

The next picture shows the station name, with a steam engine and the symbol of the Ferrovie dello Stato next to it, assembled from many small pebbles. One of the signal levers now has the opposite position; and as with the levers at Cerreto d'Esi or Pollenza, I wonder here also how the single signal wires are coupled to the two-wire levers:

Question 7: How are the single-wire lines attached to this type of levers?

Near the read flag, a railway man is waiting for the train—in the good old times, even such small stations had (at least) two employees working there.

Lever frame, barrier cranks and stopping flag, Marmore, May 1990

The following five or six stations did not have signal levers, but signal cranks of the standard type we have already seen at Asciano. At a few stations, the signal wires were running above the ground (similar to the one I had photographed at Albano), whereas others had already been moved below.

At Greccio, I took a photo of the home signal from our train:

Home signal, Greccio, May 1990

The next image shows the signal cranks and, left of it, a barrier crank. The capo stazione does something with the bell—does he reset a fallen lid?

Barrier crank, signal cranks und capo stazione, Greccio, May 1990

At Contigliano, one can see signal wires above the ground. The cranks are both in normal position, and near them there are no less than four barrier cranks, with all the barriers raised—our departure is still some time away, it seems:

Barrier and signal cranks, Contigliano, May 1990

Also Cittaducale had four barrier cranks and, in addition, a female traffic director. The signal wires were already running below the platform:

Barrier and signal cranks, Cittaducale, May 1990

I also took a photo of the home signal when we departed from the station. It is, atypically, on the right side, with its arm pointing towards the track:

Home signal, Cittaducale, May 1990

Rocca di Corno: The signal wires had been put below the ground, but the old deflection wheels had been left above the cranks:

Signal and barrier cranks, Rocca di Corno, May 1990

Somewhere between Rocca di Corno ("Castle of the horn") and Sella di Corno ("Saddle of the horn", or "horn pass") I took a photo of a telephone pole; the tensioning wires are already quite loose, but the rest is still kept in order:

Telephone lines, which were still in use, Rocca di Corno, May 1990

Next station: Sella di Corno, where the signal wires were also below the ground, and the deflection wheels had also been left in the wall. The meeting train has stopped in fron of the red flag, as the rules require:

ALn668 3335, barrier and signal cranks, Sella di Corno, May 1990

And here is the last station from which I have photographs. On the next image, one can see the distant signal of L'Aquila in a forested narrow valley in the Abruzzese Apennines:

Distant signal, L'Aquila, May 1990

The signal wires left the cranks upwards, towards the still necessary deflection wheels:

Signal cranks, L'Aquila, May 1990

And near the small toilet building, one can see a pole where the signal wires are routed from above the ground to below:

Signal wire routing from above the ground to below, L'Aquila, May 1990

Fine!