The Balvano Tunnel Disaster: a Tragedy the World Forgot About

"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee) 12/15/2015 at 14:15 • Filed to: history

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The setting is Italy, March of 1944. Mussolini has been ousted and the Germans are being driven out of the country. In the midst of the war efforts, a train sets out from the city of Balvano on the night of the 2nd. Five hundred people never make it to their destination.

It was common practice during those times for civilians and soldiers alike to just hop on the nearest convenient train and hitch a ride to their destination. Thus, after leaving Salerno and passing through multiple cities, Train No. 8017 (a cargo train not authorized to carry people) had collected over 600 illegal passengers by the time it reached Balvano. After that, it was up the mountain to the city of Potenza. Part of the route went through a long, steeply graded tunnel. This is where the disaster occurred.

The grossly overloaded train stalled partway up the tunnel. Carbon monoxide fumes from the locomotives slowly overtook the cars, suffocating the crew and passengers. The only survivors of the incident were in the last few cars, which were still out in the open air. Due to the war, communications between stations were intermittent and huge delays in the schedule were not uncommon. Thus, a search party was not sent out until many hours after the train had been due.

The biggest factor in this tragedy is thought to have been the coal. Italy does not have much in the way of coal reserves and most of it had to be imported. During the war what could be procured was of very low quality, and didn’t allow locomotives to run at full power. Most importantly, though, this low quality coal burned very dirty and produced much more CO than normal coal. The whole thing may not have happened if coal of high quality had been available.

The incident was kept quiet by the Italian authorities, who were busy trying to free the country and did not have resources to handle the situation properly. Bodies were buried in a mass grave outside Balvano, and families of those victims that could be identified were compensated as if they were “war casualties”. No official death toll was ever declared but it was known to be at the very least in the mid 400s and possibly as high as 500.

Unfortunately more exact details of this tragedy were swept up in the war and have been lost to history. Due to the lack of reporting on the accident, very few primary sources exist and most of what’s out there is in Italian.

This excerpt from the Bridgeport Times was published in 1951, seven years after the tragedy

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 14:38

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Before the advent of modern TBMs and ventilation systems, building and even using these things were of questionable safety at best. Good find.

I’m surprised the stalled train didn’t roll back down and derail.

Berang > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 14:49

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_del…

Here’s another from the same year. Although “officially” the death toll was much lower, there is evidence hundreds may have been killed.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Berang 12/15/2015 at 14:52

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That accident was supposedly part of the reason this one was covered up.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 12/15/2015 at 14:58

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One of the sources I pulled from said that one of the locomotives was found in reverse, and the other was in forward with the brake on.

SNL-LOL > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 17:41

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TIL Bridgestone named their tires after a town in Italy.

cesariojpn > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 17:44

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Von Ryan has some explaining to do.

JimAtKSF > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 17:48

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So, like all of World War II, it was Hitler’s fault.

BlueMustang > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 18:45

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Similar event, similar coverup

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salang_Tu…

Vincent Davidson > BlueMustang 12/15/2015 at 19:08

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Wow.

Vincent Davidson > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 19:09

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Crazy.

McPherson > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 19:15

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Related: Deadly fumes in tunnels drove the development of ‘Cab Forward’ steam locomotives in the US. Some western railroads had fairly long tunnels on their routes; having the cab ahead of the exhaust stacks solved the problem.

JCAlan > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 19:27

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What a convenient time and place in history to cover up massive amounts of deaths. Can you imagine if this happened today? It would be a tad different.

You probably won't like me > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/15/2015 at 20:13

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Didn’t something like this happen in Atlas Shrugged? I imagine it or something like it was the inspiration.

Lyle Petersminkle > McPherson 12/15/2015 at 20:38

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Are you sure this is not a Photoshop.??

Think through it. Where’s the coal getting put in? There’s no coal cart in the front for the steam locomotive guys to put into the engine.

Dick Pilz > McPherson 12/15/2015 at 20:47

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Note that a cab forward locomotive is required to be oil-fired, since the feed for the boiler is now dozens of feet away from the tender.

ranwhenparked > JimAtKSF 12/15/2015 at 21:27

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Pretty much. And Mussolini’s, for letting Hitler lead him into the war.

WhoolieTime > Lyle Petersminkle 12/15/2015 at 22:30

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It is very much real, it’s Southern Pacific 4233 which is a AC-12 class 4-8-8-2 cab forward locomotive.

Shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia on the final locomotive of the class 4294

“Its most distinguishing feature was that the cab and firebox were at the front of the locomotive instead of the traditional rear. This was done essentially by running a 2-8-8-4 machine backwards with myriad modifications. The engineer and fireman swapped sides and faced away from the firebox. The tender was moved to behind the “new” locomotive back to improve forward vision. The smoke box end coupling was strengthened. The power reverse lever ( Johnson Bar ) and the steam throttle motion direction was reversed. The left side Walschaerts return (fly) cranks are mounted 36 degrees left of the drive crank radial, when the drive pin is at bottom-dead-center. The right side return cranks are mounted 36 degrees right of the drive crank radial, when the drive pin is at bottom-dead-center, to reverse the expansion link timing on both sides. [3]

Conventional Walschaerts return crank position in red

This specific SP design was a necessity in the long tunnels and snow sheds of Donner Pass and other mountainous regions where it kept smoke, heat, and soot away from the operating crew and offered them clean, cool air to breathe. It also provided the crew a superb view.”

All of the 4-8-8-2’s where oil burners which solved the issue of having the tender at the opposite end of the engine from the firebox.

tripzpedalz > Lyle Petersminkle 12/15/2015 at 22:38

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No Lyle, but Dick Pilz is right in that it’s an oil burner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_…

Mathos101 > WhoolieTime 12/16/2015 at 02:49

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There’s one at the railroad museum in Sacramento. It’s a monster.

tallen702 > cesariojpn 12/16/2015 at 07:07

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Immediately thought of this when I heard “Italian tunnel”

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > JimAtKSF 12/16/2015 at 07:39

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Pretty sure it’s #HamiltonsFault

wtf2manyusernames > Lyle Petersminkle 12/16/2015 at 09:01

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It’s oil fired. you can see it in the California Railroad museum

AlmostThere2 > Mathos101 12/16/2015 at 10:19

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BraappBraapp > Lyle Petersminkle 12/16/2015 at 10:37

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They burned oil. They didn’t need a coal tender https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_forwa…

WhoolieTime > Mathos101 12/16/2015 at 11:17

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I’m not a big train guy but I’ll make a point to see that next time I’m down there.

Pixel > Lyle Petersminkle 12/16/2015 at 11:22

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10 seconds of googling shows hundreds of photos of these locomotives from the past through the current day . In addition the first hit is a wikipedia page devoted to the same type of locomotive as above , which states its fuel type as BunkerC(fuel oil).

Maybe use this amazing world-spanning source of knowledge at your fingertips before crying photoshop?

General Mayhem > Lyle Petersminkle 12/16/2015 at 12:37

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Nope, that’s real. The Southern Pacific developed the Cab Forwards not just because of their tunnels but due to the extensive snowsheds (basically very long roofs over the tracks) in the Sierras.

plainnottoasted > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/16/2015 at 12:38

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I always thought Potenza was a name dreamed up by the Bridgestone marketing department.

General Mayhem > JimAtKSF 12/16/2015 at 12:39

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It’s Bush’s fault, duh.

General Mayhem > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/16/2015 at 12:46

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The once mighty Pennsylvania Railroad equipped their Gallitzin tunnels with huge ventilator fans:

burntartichoke > Lyle Petersminkle 12/16/2015 at 13:34

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There is a beautifully preserved version in Sacramento, CA. It is the first engine when you walk into the museum. It is oil fired so no need to shovel.

Bob Chris drives a CX-5 > Lyle Petersminkle 12/16/2015 at 14:10

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I suggest doing a GIS for “cab forward steam engine”. Not a photoshop.

cesariojpn > tallen702 12/16/2015 at 17:47

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You too as well?

AuthiCooper1300 > plainnottoasted 12/17/2015 at 08:56

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https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/potenza

427zeo6 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 12/17/2015 at 11:15

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Maybe authorities keep things on the QT because their Fearless Leader had shot previous train employees for the mere problem of the trains not running on schedule.

plainnottoasted > AuthiCooper1300 12/17/2015 at 11:31

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Ha, excellent! I edited down my post, but originally it said, was a name they made up because it sounded powerful. I’m a real big fan of etymology.

tallen702 > cesariojpn 12/17/2015 at 12:07

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Yep. No clue why because Von Ryan’s Express is quite possibly one of the least entertaining WWII movies, but yes, it immediately came to mind.