Biella - Oropa
From BVE Routes Wiki
| Author: Luca Revello | Version: 2 | Last Update: 2008-12-30 |
| Country: Italy 
| Fictional: no | Length: 2 km |
| Runs on: BVE4, OpenBVE | Trains: included (Xe2/4 unit n.5 SSIF) | Url: http://www.trenomania.it/bve/eng/index.asp |
Small historical mountain line in the Alps, up to the Oropa Sanctuary.
Luca indicates that:
Biella-Oropa tramline project began in late 1800’s as an ambitious plan by SABOTE, a Belgian company. Initially the project was for a tramway line passing at right of Oropa Valley, in a wilder territory, but they realized soon that a better location was beside the carriage road running at the left of the valley and crossing several inhabited areas and villages near Biella, so to be more useful and profitable. Therefore, after initial difficulties, the plan went completed and the the construction began in 1908. The line introduced several turns, with a natural slope of the 70 for thousands, 950 cm gauge, and 850 Volt tension (this was later raised to 2400 Volt). A truly evocative point, named Girone (Big turn), and still today crossable by foot, represented the best of the fantasy and technical realization of Catella Engineer, Perrone Geometrician, and Mr. Boggio, who planned the line. The line went opened in 1911 and was immediately public happening. The passengers record came caught up in the years after the post-war period with beyond a million and half passengers every year. The starting station at Biella was in Lamarmora street (the original station’s building is now hosting the Tourism Office) at 420 m. a.s.l. and, going across Biella’s villages, the line reached at first Favaro, operating centre of the line and depot’s seat, and then climbing Oropa Valley with curves and counter curves reached the Sanctuary of Oropa at 1198 m. a.s.l., with a total length of 14.250 Km. Mostly because of tyred transport's evolution and to avoid important expenses to renew the rollingstock, the line went closed in 1958. The BVE4 plan developed by me is intended to live again a part of this line (last 2 Km.) in order to create, if possible, the atmosphere being in that time travelling these corners of Biella lands. The stretch built is the arrival one, where the line is forced by space problems to run along the road to the Sanctuary for a discreet distance, and then to return in its own place to arrive at the side of the sanctuary, as modifications done in 1927. The line faithfully respects the original plan archived in Biella’s Archive of State, with original slope in each point, only adapting radii of curves for 25 meters lenght: moreover because original curves had a minimal radius of 25 meters and the number of polygons used to represent objects is approximately 10 times more heavy then the normal (this is at boundaries of BVE4 programming), I had a hard work and spent much time in order to adapt objects and give harmony to the scene. Moreover I used particular cure trying to reproduce original black and white photos and parts of an old film.
Screenshot
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Screenshot (openBVE)
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