An Ode to the Porrettana, the Original Transappenine Line in Italy

Opened in 1864, the Ferrovia Porrettana was the first transapennine railway line in Italy, connecting Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany by train for the first time. Its construction was presaged by decades of debate about whether such a line was even feasible. The Apennines are notoriously rugged, devoid of easy passes, filled with rivers and gorges and located in one of Europe’s most seismically active areas.

Complicating matters was the fact that the construction of the line r