{"id":13250,"date":"2017-01-16T16:23:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T15:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=13250"},"modified":"2017-01-16T16:23:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T15:23:54","slug":"the-steam-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/the-steam-train\/","title":{"rendered":"The Steam Train"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff\">Here&#8217;s my English translation of last Friday&#8217;s blog <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/il-treno-a-vapore\/\" target=\"_blank\">Il Treno A Vapore<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. I&#8217;ve also included a few useful notes.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Un vero treno a vapore, e per di pi\u00f9 a Pontremoli! Non potevo credere ai miei occhi quando la mia amica Clara mi ha mandato una mail con il poster del Treno della Befana! <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">A real steam train, and what&#8217;s more, in Pontremoli! I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes when my friend Clara sent me an e-mail with the poster for the Befana Train!<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #666699\"><em>(I couldn&#8217;t find a nice video of &#8216;our&#8217; 940 050, so here&#8217;s one of his &#8216;brothers&#8217; back in 2001)<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gr940 044  Francavilla al Mare - Treno a vapore\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gCGcRrSCMms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><b><span style=\"color: #000000\">Quando abitavamo in Inghilterra siamo andati varie volte su dei vecchi treni a vapore, perch\u00e9 non lontano da dove abitavamo c&#8217;era una linea ferroviaria in disuso che era stata restaurata e ai week end <\/span><span style=\"color: #800080\">ci facevano viaggiare i treni<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\"> antichi, diesel o a vapore. Ma <span style=\"color: #800080\">da quando siamo qui in Italia<\/span> non avevamo pi\u00f9 rivisto un treno a vapore.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">When we lived in England, we went on old steam trains several times, because not far from where we lived there was a disused railway that had been restored, and at the weekends they ran antique diesel and steam trains there. <\/span>But since we&#8217;ve been here in Italy we hadn&#8217;t seen a steam train again.<em><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000\"><b><span style=\"color: #800080\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">ci<\/span> facevano viaggiare i treni<\/span><\/b> <\/span>= literally: they made the trains run <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">there<\/span>.<\/em> <span style=\"color: #000000\"><br \/>\n<em><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">da quando siamo qui in Italia<\/span><\/b><span style=\"color: #800080\">\u00a0<\/span>= we&#8217;ll cover this grammatical construction in the near future. <\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Cos\u00ec quando ho ricevuto la mail mi sono sentita come una bambina a cui viene promesso un bel regalo atteso da tanto tempo. Tutti i giorni controllavo il poster salvato sul mio desktop: <span style=\"color: #800080\">&#8220;Vedrai che \u00e8 uno scherzo&#8221;<\/span> mi dicevo. Poi aprivo il file e vedevo che era stato creato da Trenitalia, aveva gli orari, il costo dei biglietti e i punti vendita: &#8220;Allora \u00e8 vero, non \u00e8 uno scherzo!&#8221;<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">So when I got the e-mail I felt like a child who&#8217;d been promised a lovely present which she&#8217;d been awaiting for a long time. Every day I checked the poster saved on my desktop: &#8220;I bet it turns out to be a joke&#8221; I said to myself. Then I opened the file and saw that it had been created by Trenitalia, it had the timetable, the cost of the tickets and the sales points: &#8220;So it&#8217;s true, it&#8217;s not a joke!&#8221;<br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">&#8220;Vedrai che \u00e8 uno scherzo&#8221;<\/span><\/b><\/span> = literally: &#8220;You&#8217;ll see that it is a joke&#8221;<\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Cos\u00ec venerd\u00ec 6 gennaio, giorno della Befana, tutta speranzosa sono andata alla stazione con Geoff. Pensavamo di far fatica a trovare un parcheggio, di doverci aprire la via a forza fra una folla enorme di gente, specialmente bambini urlanti, di trovare il tappeto rosso per terra e le autorit\u00e0 cittadine.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">So, Friday the 6th of January, Befana day, I went down to the station with Geoff full of expectations. We thought it would be hard to find a parking space, and that we&#8217;d have to push our way through a huge crowd of folk, especially shouting children, and that we&#8217;d find a red carpet on the ground and the civic authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Invece &#8230; arrivati l\u00ec abbiamo trovato il parcheggio mezzo vuoto, sui binari <span style=\"color: #800080\">c&#8217;erano solo quattro gatti<\/span>, per la maggior parte uomini adulti con macchine fotografiche con degli obbiettivi enormi, ovviamente dei trainspotter, e l&#8217;altoparlante che ogni tanto annunciava l&#8217;arrivo del treno come se fosse un normale treno passeggeri: &#8220;Annuncio ritardo: treno regionale 96040 proveniente da La Spezia Centrale <span style=\"color: #800080\">viaggia con un ritardo di 5 minuti<\/span>&#8220;. Io mi ero memorizzata il numero del treno, per cui sapevo che era lui, il treno a vapore!<br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Instead &#8230; when we got there we found the car park half empty, there was just a handful of people on the platforms, mostly adult men with cameras sporting huge lenses, obviously train spotters, and the loudspeaker that every now and then announced the arrival of the train as if it were a normal passenger train: &#8220;Late arrival announcement: regional train 96040 coming from La Spezia Central will be 5 minutes late&#8221;. I had memorised the train&#8217;s number, so I knew it was &#8216;him&#8217;, the steam train!<br \/>\n<em><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">c&#8217;erano solo quattro gatti<\/span><\/b> = literally: there were only four cats, a colloquialism for just a few people<\/em><br \/>\n<em><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">viaggia con un ritardo di 5 minuti<\/span><\/b>\u00a0= literally: travels with a lateness of 5 minutes<\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Ed eccolo arrivare finalmente! Spunta fuori dal tunnel col suo bel pennacchio di fumo ed entra <span style=\"color: #800080\">di gran carriera<\/span> in stazione, sembra non volersi fermare. Poi con un gran stridore di freni e nuvole di vapore si arresta al primo binario. Molta gente scende dalle carrozze passeggeri <span style=\"color: #800080\">d&#8217;epoca<\/span>.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">And here it comes, finally! It appears out of the tunnel with its lovely plume of smoke and gallops into the station as if it doesn&#8217;t want to stop. Then with a great squealing of brakes and clouds of steam it halts at platform one. Lots of people get out of the period passenger carriages.<br \/>\n<em><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">di gran carriera<\/span><\/b> = the word <strong>carriera<\/strong> (career) is related to the word &#8216;carriage&#8217; and hence the carriageways along which carriages or horsemen travel. Our common usage of the word career is actually a metaphor for the &#8216;path&#8217; one chooses to follow in life, especially that related to work<\/em>.<br \/>\n<em><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">d&#8217;epoca<\/span><\/b> = literally: of the epoch, commonly used for period pieces, e.g. <strong>macchina d&#8217;epoca<\/strong> (period car), <strong>treno d&#8217;epoca<\/strong> (period train), <strong>vestiti d&#8217;epoca<\/strong> (period clothing), and so on.<\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Geoff cerca di avere alcune informazioni sulla locomotiva, ma i macchinisti e tutto lo staff sono troppo occupati a giocare col loro bel giocattolo. La locomotiva tutta nera a parte dei dettagli rossi, \u00e8 una Gr. 940 <span style=\"color: #800080\">risalente al 1924<\/span>. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Geoff tries to get a bit of information about the locomotive, but the drivers and all the staff are too busy playing with their lovely toy. The locomotive, all black apart from some details in red, is a Gr. 940 dating from 1924.<br \/>\n<em><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">risalente al 1924<\/span><\/b> = we could also say <strong>che risale al 1924<\/strong> (that dates back to 1924)<\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Questo particolare modello fu progettato specificamente per <span style=\"color: #800080\">trainare<\/span> i treni lungo le linee degli Appennini e delle Alpi, le quali presentano un tracciato molto sinuoso con salite a forte pendenza. Secondo l&#8217;informazione che abbiamo trovato sull&#8217;internet:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">This particular model was specifically designed to pull trains along the lines of the Apennines and the Alps, which consist of very winding routes with steep gradients. According to the information that we found on the internet:<br \/>\n<em><b><span style=\"color: #800080\">trainare<\/span> <\/b>= the English word train (form of transport) shares the same root as the Italian <strong>trainare<\/strong> (to pull or tow)<\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><em><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>&#8216;Dal punto di vista tecnico, si ottenne un incremento della potenza in salita mediante un aumento del peso aderente, ottenuto caricando il peso dei cassoni di acqua e carbone sulle ruote motrici, nello stesso tempo, il peso assiale venne contenuto con l&#8217;applicazione di un asse portante in coda. Grazie a questo asse posteriore, di tipo bissel, in grado di ruotare rispetto al telaio principale, la locomotiva era in grado di procedere alla stessa velocit\u00e0 in entrambi i sensi di marcia, rendendo non necessario girare la locomotiva.&#8217;<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><em><span style=\"color: #000000\">From a technical point of view, an increment <\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\">of<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\"> power<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\"> during the climb<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\"> was obtained<\/span><\/em> <em><span style=\"color: #000000\">through<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\"> augmenting the traction weight by loading the weight of the water tanks and fuel onto the drive wheels<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\">.<\/span><\/em> <em><span style=\"color: #000000\">A<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\">t the same time, the axle weight was contained<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #000000\"> by using a supporting axle at the rear. Thanks to this rear, bissel type axle, which is able to turn in relation to the main frame, the locomotive was able to move at the same speed in both directions, rendering it unnecessary to turn the locomotive. <span style=\"color: #666699\">(N.B. I personally hate translating technical gobbledegook, but perhaps it will make sense to someone!)<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><b>Fra il 1922 e il 1924 <span style=\"color: #800080\">ne vennero prodotti 50 esemplari<\/span>. Il risultato fu cos\u00ec soddisfacente, sia per i treni passeggeri che per i merci, che anche dopo l&#8217;avvento delle locomotrici elettriche e diesel, le Gr. 940 furono mantenute in uso. Negli anni &#8217;70 circa 40 esemplari erano ancora attivi. Data la loro versatilit\u00e0 ed affidabilit\u00e0, alcune locomotive vennero destinate a manovre pesanti o tenute di riserva, e nel 1983 ne risultavano attive ancora 18.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Between 1922 and 1924 50 examples were produced. The results was so satisfying, both for passenger and goods trains, that the Gr. 940&#8217;s were kept in use even after the advent of electric and diesel trains. In the 70&#8217;s, 40 examples were still active. Given their versatility and trustworthiness, some locomotives were assigned to heavy operations or kept in reserve, and in 1983, 18 of them were still active.<br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #800080\"><b><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">ne<\/span> vennero prodotti 50 esemplari<\/b> <\/span>= 50 examples <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">of them<\/span> were produced. N.B. The verb <strong>venire<\/strong> (to come, <strong>vennero<\/strong> = they came) is often used instead of <strong>essere<\/strong> (to be) in the passive form, e.g. <strong>gli spaghetti vengono cotti per 8 minuti<\/strong> (spaghetti is cooked for 8 minutes)<\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #666699\"><b>How did you get on dear readers. If you have any questions don&#8217;t hesitate to post a comment, va bene?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s my English translation of last Friday&#8217;s blog Il Treno A Vapore. I&#8217;ve also included a few useful notes. Un vero treno a vapore, e per di pi\u00f9 a Pontremoli! Non potevo credere ai miei occhi quando la mia amica Clara mi ha mandato una mail con il poster del Treno della Befana! A real&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/the-steam-train\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[619],"tags":[474210,351067,474211],"class_list":["post-13250","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-italian-language","tag-italian-steam-train","tag-italian-to-english-translation","tag-treno-a-vapore"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13250"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13263,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250\/revisions\/13263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}