La Littorina Self Propelled Railcar ,Istanbul 2019
A simply wonderful example of this railcar made by Fiat in 1937 in Italy.The ALn1903 was among a series of self propelled railcars which operated on the Italinan Rail System.The "Littorina" was named by an Italian journalist after the city of Littoria and Benito Mussolini travelled to this city on a Fiat AI.56 together with Senator Gianni Agnelli of Fiat on the occasion of the inauguration of the newly built city now called Latina.This particular example was discovered in 1988 in Paola,Calabria rail yard in a very poor state by the Miami philanthropist and art collector Mitchell Wolfson Jr who had it restored.After taking two years of restoration work,in June 1990 the vehicle was transported to Miami and placed on long term loan to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum as a working exhibit,but maintenance issues caused the railcar to become a static exhibit.From there it was then loaned to the Tennessee Railroad Museum,Chattanooga where rust and corrosion began to take its toll and in 1992 the railcar was further damaged by Hurricane Andrew.The vehicle was obtained by the Rahmi M Koc Museum and fully restored where she now resides in a fantastic covered and heated display showroom.
Read More