Attila57
02-04-2012, 00:00
A nice article published yesterday in a free newspaper (MetroNews). The electronic version at:
http://www.metronews.it/master.php?pagina=notizia.php&id_notizia=932
A short history of this railway station at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_Termini_railway_station
I translate the article (using Google Transaltor) for you. At the end of it a short nice video. A link to see this video separately:
http://www.youreporter.it/video_Il_bunker_segreto_della_stazione_Termini
Rome. At Termini station, ten feet below the tracks, in a cage of reinforced concrete is a hidden jewel of the unknown history of the city in World War II. It did make the bunker by Mussolini in 1936 to host the "duplicate" of the control booth outside ACE (Electrical Interlocking) that was positioned on the top floor with large windows of the tower block square that lies beyond the abutment of the "Lazio" on the side Via Giolitti. The cabin was the heart and brain of the entire management of the movement of trains.
When we began the mournful sound of air raid sirens, the stationmaster, the two deputies and sixty people running down from the top floor down to the sottoterranei, were closed behind the double doors reinforced with anti-gas seals, put in air recirculation function and - if necessary - the powerful generators.
Trains in bombs
They would sit in front of the three long console - with a forest of 730 levers and large bright screens that reproduced the map of the tracks - perfect clones of those where they were working normally on the "control tower" on the surface. From the bunker so they could continue to "route" trains, also under the bombs, operating remote exchanges and switches.
In the memories of experienced railroad men, that salon armored resurfaces with his eyes veiled by nostalgia in a climate of "pirate ship" orders, excited screams from one location to another, a confusion that apparently hiding in oiled and hierarchical procedures actually rigorous. Never an accident outgoing and incoming calls from the station. Through the courtesy of the Italian State Railways Group, Metro was able to visit after many years in these exclusive local "secrets", in part now used as a warehouse.
Jewel electrical
It's all perfectly preserved: there are even capsules of air filters - charcoal and lime - to counter the then dreaded poison gas attacks (which, luckily there were never on Rome). Entering the hall of over 40 meters is a sinking heart that oppresses, you get lost in a sea of levers, buttons and indicator lights: a miracle of electrical engineering and technological genius, yet thorough and solid. Just think, with regard to the controls on the surface, the cabin until 1999 ACE (modernized several times) has been supplanted by the new management Computerized Central Apparatus of the Termini railway station, an advanced system that now we are copying over Europe.
The rediscovery of this place of remembrance, which awakened in the same railroad pride and sense of belonging, could convince the Italian Fs Group to consider the possibility of a restoration of the premises for their open house. Diving in the pioneering emergency operations room, a few steps away from the hectic hustle and bustle of modern passenger station, would represent an unprecedented and exciting time travel.
Curiosity
The bunker had action to prevent "head shots" of the station master (a sort of measures "anti-Schettino"). To force an order "notwithstanding" was necessary to press two buttons positioned at a distance: the chief can not do it alone. Moreover, the stress of long periods in a confined environment, there was a cell ready to accommodate those who lost control. (Lawrence Grassi)
http://www.metronews.it/master.php?pagina=notizia.php&id_notizia=932
A short history of this railway station at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_Termini_railway_station
I translate the article (using Google Transaltor) for you. At the end of it a short nice video. A link to see this video separately:
http://www.youreporter.it/video_Il_bunker_segreto_della_stazione_Termini
Rome. At Termini station, ten feet below the tracks, in a cage of reinforced concrete is a hidden jewel of the unknown history of the city in World War II. It did make the bunker by Mussolini in 1936 to host the "duplicate" of the control booth outside ACE (Electrical Interlocking) that was positioned on the top floor with large windows of the tower block square that lies beyond the abutment of the "Lazio" on the side Via Giolitti. The cabin was the heart and brain of the entire management of the movement of trains.
When we began the mournful sound of air raid sirens, the stationmaster, the two deputies and sixty people running down from the top floor down to the sottoterranei, were closed behind the double doors reinforced with anti-gas seals, put in air recirculation function and - if necessary - the powerful generators.
Trains in bombs
They would sit in front of the three long console - with a forest of 730 levers and large bright screens that reproduced the map of the tracks - perfect clones of those where they were working normally on the "control tower" on the surface. From the bunker so they could continue to "route" trains, also under the bombs, operating remote exchanges and switches.
In the memories of experienced railroad men, that salon armored resurfaces with his eyes veiled by nostalgia in a climate of "pirate ship" orders, excited screams from one location to another, a confusion that apparently hiding in oiled and hierarchical procedures actually rigorous. Never an accident outgoing and incoming calls from the station. Through the courtesy of the Italian State Railways Group, Metro was able to visit after many years in these exclusive local "secrets", in part now used as a warehouse.
Jewel electrical
It's all perfectly preserved: there are even capsules of air filters - charcoal and lime - to counter the then dreaded poison gas attacks (which, luckily there were never on Rome). Entering the hall of over 40 meters is a sinking heart that oppresses, you get lost in a sea of levers, buttons and indicator lights: a miracle of electrical engineering and technological genius, yet thorough and solid. Just think, with regard to the controls on the surface, the cabin until 1999 ACE (modernized several times) has been supplanted by the new management Computerized Central Apparatus of the Termini railway station, an advanced system that now we are copying over Europe.
The rediscovery of this place of remembrance, which awakened in the same railroad pride and sense of belonging, could convince the Italian Fs Group to consider the possibility of a restoration of the premises for their open house. Diving in the pioneering emergency operations room, a few steps away from the hectic hustle and bustle of modern passenger station, would represent an unprecedented and exciting time travel.
Curiosity
The bunker had action to prevent "head shots" of the station master (a sort of measures "anti-Schettino"). To force an order "notwithstanding" was necessary to press two buttons positioned at a distance: the chief can not do it alone. Moreover, the stress of long periods in a confined environment, there was a cell ready to accommodate those who lost control. (Lawrence Grassi)