Italian "Mastodonte dei Giovi" steam locomotive 1/100 scale model

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The Mastodonte dei Giovi was a particular double steam locomotive built for specific use on the difficult Apennine section of the new Turin-Genoa railway line inaugurated in 1853. The construction of the Ferrovia dei Giovi, strongly desired by Cavour, which in the intentions should have been the backbone of the Piedmontese railway system connecting Turin to the port city of Genoa, had posed the serious problem of how to overcome the Giovi pass with its very strong slopes; initially it was thought to overcome it with particular cable systems with hydraulic motors however, an international competition announced by Austria for the Semmering Line had brought to the fore other solutions more suitable to increase the upward towing capacity of the locomotives of the time. The Cockerill workshops had devised a solution that had met with particular favor: a split boiler locomotive, with an oven and tender in the center on a single long frame, which used a machinist and two stokers. This solution particularly struck the brilliant Italian engineer Germain Sommeiller, who nevertheless considered it difficult to drive on the tight curves of the Giovi given the long stiff wheelbase. He therefore studied an ingenious solution: his machine was composed of two twin 2-axis locotenders with natural adherence coupled on the side of the oven so as to be articulated (and detachable if necessary in case of breakdowns or maintenance), with the supply of water. and coal placed laterally and an articulated platform that allowed driving with a single driver with the support of a single stoker.