Product Features and Details
FS Class E.645 021 electric locomotive, Era V
Thanks to the commendable work of the "Squadra Pittori" of Milano Smistamento, between 2000 and 2003 a total of 15 locomotives still in regular service and assigned to the Milan depot were restored to their original or "historical" livery. Of these, 13 belonged to the E645 series and 2 to the E646 series.
During these years, a veritable "locomotive hunt" began to develop – facilitated by the development of the internet and mobile phones, which were just beginning to spread throughout society. The aim was to photograph these locomotives in their historical livery on the Italian tracks, where they continued to be used in daily service, but stood out clearly from the others due to their distinctive color scheme. In the following years, thanks to the Associazione Rotabili Storici Milano Smistamento (Association of Historic Locomotives Milano Smistamento), which had since been founded, further locomotives, including some from other series, were repainted. The E645 021 left the workshops on May 19, 2000, once again in its green magnolia livery with fog-grey wings, brown bogies, and the winged FS front emblem in the shape of a shield. This was how it appeared upon delivery to the FS as E646 013 in January 1960, until its renumbering to E645 021 in April 1962. In the following years, the locomotive underwent several pantograph replacements during regular service at the head of heavy freight trains (first type 52 with a curved contact strip, then type 42U with initially a curved and later a flat contact strip, subsequently the pantograph on cab side B was replaced by a type 52, and finally both were replaced again by type 52 with a flat contact strip). In addition, there were several technical modifications (relocation of the windshield wipers above the front windows at the end of 2003, installation of air conditioning in 2004) as well as several visual adjustments. These include the locomotive nameplates, initially painted red and later green; the bogies, painted black during the 2003 overhaul and finally chestnut brown in 2006; and the characteristic metallic "mustaches" of the front emblem, which were initially painted and then reattached as raised metal parts at the end of 2003. The locomotive is now preserved as a static exhibit in its "home" of Milano Smistamento.
