40 I FEBRUARY 28, 2021 THE SUNDAY TIMES OF MALTA THE SUNDAY TIMES OF MALTA FEBRUARY 28, 2021 I 41 LIFEANDWELLBEING HISTORY Map of the route of It hap~ened in February the Malta Railway /Via/ta Rise and fall Of the VALLETTA Malta Railway after • • • Employees of the Malta Railway pose for a group photograph at its ~naugurat1ons f'famrun Station in 1924. Bombes) on to Hamrun Sta­ the Attard-Mdina road through Because of debts, calculated to have been in the region of THE MALTA RAILWAY CO. LTD. .in 1883' and 1892 tion. At Hamrun, there was a a 25-yard-long tunnel and then double track w.ith two plat­ up the final steep climb to £80,000, the line closed down LOCOMOTIVES - SOME TECHNICAL DATA servic.e in Valletta. Plans were The Malta Railways Co. Ltd in­ forms and side lines leading to Rabat which was the last termi­ on Tuesday, April 1, 1890, but JOSEPH F. submitted by J. Scott Tucker in augurated its service at 3pm on the workshops which, by 1900, nus till 1900. In that year, the government reopened it on GRIMA 1870, Major Hutchinson in Wednesday, February 28, 1883, were capable of major mainte­ line was extended via a half­ Thursday, February 25, 1892. No. Type CyUnders Onches) Builder Worlm No. Data 1873, Architect Edward Rosen­ amid great enthusiasm. That af­ nance and engineering work. mile tunnel beneath Mdina to During the closure period, 1. 0-6-0T, 10Yz x 18, Manning Wardle 842, 1882 Retired casual bush in 1873 and George Fer­ ternoon, the guests were taken Formerly, repairs and renova­ the Museum Station just below works on buildings were car­ 2. 0-6-0T, 1OYz x 18, Manning Wardle 843, 1882 history lecturer nandes in 1875. on the inaugural train journey tions had been carried out at the Roman Domus (popularly ried' out and more locomotives 3. 0-6-0T, 1OYz x 18, Manning Wardle 844, 1883 and Asst Director Rosenbush's ideas were cho­ to Mdina where they were en­ the dockyard. There were stops known as the Roman Villa). and carriages were imported. 4. 0-6-0T, 13 x 19, Black Hawthorn 753, 1884 of Education sen by a committee set up by tertained to a meal and heard at Msida, Santa Venera and a The line extended for another As is quite clear from the tech­ 5. 2-6-ZT, 15 x 20, Manning Wardle 1243, 1891 the Council of Government, the speeches befitting the occasion station at Birkirkara which 300 yards beyond the station nical data provided in the table 6. 2-6-4T, 15 x 20, Manning Wardle 1261, 1892 members being Sir Adriano by various speakers, including had two platforms, and ended abruptly, probably on the right, these new locomo­ 7. 2-6-4T, 14% x 20 Beyer Peacock 3678, 1895 February reminds us of the Dingli, Giovanni Battista Tra­ the Governor . of Malta, Sir being part of a scheme to ex­ tives, or engines, were larger 8. 2-6-4T, 14% .x 20, Beyer Peacock 3952, 1896 inauguration (and a subse­ pani, , Emanuel Scicluna, Arthur Borton. The public train "For the journey tend it to the Mtarfa Barracks and stronger than the ones 9. 2-6-4T, 14% x 20, Beyer Peacock ·4163, 1899 quent reopening) of the Malta Ramiro Barbaro and Francesco service started the next day and and Hospital but which was used hitherto. 10. 2-6-4T, 14% x 20, Beyer Peacock 4719, 1905 Railway, then popularly known Saverio Decesare, with techni­ provided eight return journeys. from Valletta to never brought to fruition. This During its span of life, the locally as il-vapur tal-art, cal help being provided by The first manager of the railway Mdina, the took place during the manage­ railway made use of 10 locomo­ which was the first mecha­ chosen architects. was F.A.B. Geneste. ment of Nicholas Buhagiar who tives, of which only one (num­ nised overland public trans­ All the plans came to nothing The Valletta terminus was locomotives pulled had succeeded to this office in ber 3) failed to survive the port service to be introduced except the sole central line that below modern City Gate, then 1897. The last manager was railway's final closure in 1931. included skilled workers for On July 22, 1923, the train of in the Maltese islands. was eventually constructed. known as Porta Reale, but the the carriages but, architect Carmelo Rizzo. Locomotive number 1 was re­ maintenance and engineering the 8pmjourney from Mdina (it Primarily, it provided a useful A company formed in 1876 station itself was in Ordnance for the return The.whole journey from Val­ ported to have survived in jobs in the workshops, 'points­ was actually the last trip of the commuting service for the work­ was soon dissolved but another Street (where the present Par­ letta took 35 minutes but the re­ Hamrun until 1944. Engine men' in the stations and also day) was derailed after slam­ ing population but it also be­ company, the Malta Railways liament building now stands) journey, the turn trip was only half-an-hour number 5 was completely re­ 'chainmen' along the railway ming into a large herd of cattle came popular for leisurely travel Company Ltd, was formed on and included the manager's of­ long because it was mainly built and converted from a line. Where the line crossed over that was being driven to a farm since it linked Valletta and June 12, 1879, and obtained a fice, the booking office, a wait­ locomotives downhill. Fares were one penny 2-6-2 to a 2-6~4, a feat which, in­ a public road, a chainman had to after being disembarked from a · Mdina via SanAnt-011 Gardens. .·governmental . concession .to inghall-and: two ramps leading ~pushed -the (id}4>er mile&irst-class, a half cidentally, reflects highly on the ensure that no one crossed when ship. The accident happened Surveys and plans for the raH­ construct a Tine linking Val­ down to the railway p1atforms. penny ('hd) per mile third class, efficiency and engineering ca­ the train was on its way and so between Santa Venera and way were carried out in the letta with Mdina. The conces­ From here, the trains crossed carriages" a flat rate of two pence (2d) for pabilities of the Hamrun work­ they barred access by means of Hamrun, where the present 1870s with the original inten­ sion was for a duration of 99 the Valletta ditch into a tunnel workmen from · Valletta to shops and their personnel. chains. The government finan­ church of St Francis now tion being to construct a net­ -years but the government leading to A.rgotti Gardens Another two stops at Balzan Mdina (and vice-versa) and a All the engines were tank cial estimates for 1920-21 state stands. Fortunately, no human work of lines covering almost reserved the right to acquire (Floriana Station) and, via and San Anton preceded San number of concession rates. All class and uniformly finished in that the Malta Railway had 63 lives were lost and no one was all of Malta, together with plans the railway at any time after another tunnel, thrnugh St Salvatore Station at Attard. The the rates remained unchanged a dark olive green colour, black employees on its bOoks, includ­ even injured. However, the cat­ for an internal underground the lapse of 15 years. Philip Bastion (near Portes des line subsequently passed.under over the years. smoke boxes and red buffer ing the management. tle were not so lucky because 34 beams. The domes were made of them were killed and some of brass and the chimneys had others suffered injuries. copper bands at the top. The The railway faced stiff com­ frames and the wheels were "The advent of the petition from the tramway black and each engine carried motor bus service service's three lines after their an oval brass number plate. inauguration in 1905. But it The line used was a single­ sounded the was really the advent of the metre gauge with 42lb/yd rails railway's death motor . bus service that spiked to timber sleepers, the sounded the railway's death rails being eventually replaced knell and it finally knell and it finally closed down with 60lb/yd rails after they on Thursday, April 2, 1931. became worn · out. The mini­ closed down on Strictly speaking, the Malta mum curve radius was of 220 April 2, 1931" Railway was not the only rail­ yards, and the ruling gradient way to operate in the Maltese is­ was 1 in 50 (two per cent) ex­ lands because J. Pearson & Sons cept in the final run of one­ · Naturally, accidents involving Ltd brought three standard­ and-a-half miles to Mdina the railway did occur from time gauge locomotives to Malta dur­ which was 1 in 40 (2.5 per to time, of which one can men­ ing the construction of the ·cent). For the journey from Val­ tion the following two more Grand Harbour breakwater in letta to Mdina, the locomotiV'es important ones: 190lt. However, they were taken pulled the carriages but, for On January 25, 1893, on the back to England when the the return journey, the loco­ 5pm journey from Mdina, a breakwater was completed and motives pushed the carriages. certain Dominic Vassallo died were never put to public use. ...r The railway employed quite a on the spot after falling from a Moreover, the Royal Navy also ' . number of staff, apart from the carriag~ ending up bet­ had an internal standard-gauge ~ .