Parenzana

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"Porečka" redirects here. For the river with this name, see Porečka River.
Parenzana
Porečanka
760 mm
(2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)

The Parenzana in Italian and Croatian or Porečanka[1] in Slovene is one of the nicknames of a defunct 760mm/15 15/16 inch narrow gauge railway (operating between 1902 and 1935) between Trieste and Poreč (at that time Parenzo, hence the name Parenzana), in present-day Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.

Name

When constructed, the

railway's official name was Parenzaner Bahn or simply Parenzaner.[2] Later it was known as the Istrian Railway and TPC (standing for "Trieste - Parenzo (now Poreč) - Canfanaro (now Kanfanar
)" ).

Among the area's current majority Croats and Slovenes, the railway is also known as the Istranka or Istrijanka, both meaning 'Istrian'. In Slovene, the railway is also known as Porečanka or Parenzana, while in Croatian it is sometimes referred to as Porečka or Porečanka. In Italian the railway's nickname is Parenzana.

Route

The railway started at St. Andrew station (now a

Mirna river. Then it started climbing again via Motovun and Vižinada to Baldaši where it reached another local extreme at 273 meters above sea level. From there it started to descend gradually, passing Višnjan and reaching Poreč
after 123 kilometers from Trieste.

Although initially planned and much effort made by local authorities, the fork from Valica to Umag was never built. On the other hand, since 1909 Piran was connected with the station in Portorož (at that time Portorož was a spa and a stop for guests was arranged in a private villa two years after the rail line was completed), first with a trolleybus, in 1912 replaced by an electrical tramway which was operating till 1953.

List of stations

Livade railway station
Freski tunnel entrance
U.37 locomotive monument in Koper (side)
U.37 locomotive monument in Koper (front)
U.37 locomotive monument in Koper (with cars)

In parentheses the Italian names. Present day in Italy

Present day in Slovenia

Present day in Croatia

Technical data

  • total length: 123 km
  • 760 mm
    (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
  • total number of
    railway stations
    and stops: 35
  • the lowest point: 2 m above sea level (in Trieste and Koper)
  • the highest point: 293 m above sea level (near Grožnjan)
  • number of curves: 604
  • the shortest bend radius: 60 m
  • the steepest
    inclination
    : 28‰
  • number of tunnels: 9, total length 1530 m
  • number of
    Mirna
    )
  • number of viaducts: 6
  • average speed: 25 km/h
  • the highest speed: 31 km/h

History

Sečovlje saltworks

When

standard gauge rail lines from Divača, Pula and Rovinj
(the section between Kanfanar and Rovinj is now defunct) but it was never built due to lack of funds and later due to upcoming World War I.

The railway brought economic progress to towns along its route. It was mainly used to transport

fish and salt) to the Trieste market. Products of Piran's chemical industry and dimension stones from quarries in Grožnjan, Momjan, Kanegra, etc. were transported as well. During the World War I the railway was used to transport military and food
supplies for the local population.

After the war and the independence of most parts of Austria-Hungary, the whole of

Croatian population, forming majority of Istrian hinterland population. From Rome the order to abandon the railway arrived and the last train was operated on August 31, 1935. The economic situation deteriorated further as a result, and forced many people to emigrate. The rolling stock was sold to other Italian railways, mainly to Sicily, and a legend tells that tracks were dismantled to be transported to Abyssinia, then an Italian colony, but never reached Africa as the ship sank somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea
.

During the operation of railway several minor

fireman
were killed.

The most tragic event in the railway's history occurred on 19 March 1921 at 18:20. A group of

fascists was traveling to Trieste. During the stop in Strunjan they shot from the train at a group of children playing near the track. Two children were killed, 2 maimed and 3 wounded. In memory of this event Božidar Tvrdy later composed a poem Za Šentjanom je utonilo sonce (the Sun drowned at Šentjan, full text in Slovenian
).

After the

cyclists
and similar works started at the Croatian side as well. On the Croatian side, viaducts have had new safety rails installed and some tunnels are now illuminated. The section between Vizinada and Motovun has been popular with walkers for some years. The section between Livade and Grosnjan is also accessible. In 2008, the section between Markovac and Visnjan was cleared. In 2010 it was apparent that efforts were being made to clear other sections of bushes and self seeded trees that were blocking them. Clearing has been going on near Salvore/Savudrija. The section from Vizinada to the Ypsilon (the fast road from Pula to the Slovenian border) was cleared in January 2011. In two places near Ohnici and Baldasi, vineyards appear to have been grown right across the trackbed, which is no longer visible at these points. When the Ypsilon was constructed, it caused the only major cut in the trackbed and it is unfortunate that an accommodation arch was not incorporated when it was planned. Beyond the Ypsilon, the trackbed has been cleared through to Markovac and the section from there to Višnjan was previously cleared. There is some sign of clearing starting between Višnjan and Nova Vas.

Travelling

Due to frequent bends, curves and ascents the train's average speed was a mere 25 km/h; together with all stops, the whole journey between Trieste and Poreč took approximately 7 hours. At slower sections

steam locomotives often had trouble ascending the slope, prompting passengers alight the train and help push it. Trains occasionally had to stop after children would grease the rails with figs
, and the journey could only continue once the tracks were cleaned.

A P class steam locomotive on the Parenzana

Locomotives and rolling stock

During the first years of the railway U-series 4-axle (0-6-2 / C'1)

Pinzgau. After Italian annexation of Istria the new administration of the railroad ordered four additional locomotives (copies of the P-series) from Officine Meccaniche Italiane in Reggio Emilia
. They were delivered in 1922 and 1923.

All

luggage
cars were in use. In 1935, just before the decision to close down the line, a total of 180 cars of all types were in use.

Remains

A preserved viaduct Freski - 68.5 m long, 30 m high.

Although all tracks were removed, a large part of other railway

embankments, cuttings, bridges, viaducts, etc.) survives today. According to the Croatian association Porečanka it could still be possible to reconstruct the railway at 94% of the original route. Several milestones
with the inscription "T.P.C." still stand along the former route.

Most of

railway stations survive as well, mostly they were converted into homes, workshops, warehouses
. The former "Savudrija station" in Valica still carries the original sign with an inscription "Salvore".

All 9 tunnels also still exist. Some of them were used to grow mushrooms. The others were and still are used by foot travellers and cyclists as "shortcuts". Probably the most famous of such tunnels is the tunnel Valeta between Strunjan and Portorož.

Of the original U-series of locomotives, U-37 is still preserved. After withdrawing from the Porečanka it was sold to the Austrian railway between Weiz, Birkfeld and Ratten, during World War I it was moved to a Bosnian logging railway and later it was operating at the brickworks in Busovača. After its "retirement" it was exhibited in front of the new railway station in Koper (built in 1967 for the new standard gauge line from Divača) together with a few Bosnian cars, that were never used at the Porečanka. Another preserved U-series locomotive, U-40, is still in operation at Austrian Murtalbahn.

Two of P-series locomotives survived. P-7 is now exhibited in the technical museum

petrol station a P-3 was exhibited in 2002 but this locomotive never operated at the Porečanka. In the 1980s the railway museum in Ljubljana
acquired another interesting locomotive of P-series. It was assembled after World War I by Krauss from the parts that were initially intended for three additional locomotives ordered by the TPC administration but the war canceled the order.

See also

References

  1. ^ Lenarčič, Maruška (May 2000). "Namig za izlet". Naš Glas. 5: 34. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  2. ^ Official Site of the Slovenian "Parenzana Museum" Archived 2009-04-11 at the Wayback Machine: "In the official gazette they used the German name “Parenzaner Bahn”", from "Parenzo", italian name of Poreč

External links

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