FS Class 744

The FS Class 744 was a class of 50 steam locomotives with a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement, and the last orthodox steam locomotives built for the Italian state railways, the Ferrovie dello Stato. It derived from the earlier Class 745, sharing its boiler and wheelbase, but placed the two cylinders outside after an axle-load limit was relaxed, to cure the overheating big ends of the inside-cylinder design. Breda built the first 25 in 1927 with Walschaerts valve gear. The other 25 came in 1928 from Gio. Ansaldo & C. (15) and Officine Meccaniche (10), all with Caprotti valve gear; first classed 743, they were renumbered 744.1XX in 1930. Intended for mixed traffic, they worked mainly in southern Italy, around Salerno, Palermo and Catania, and later in Sardinia, and were withdrawn in the 1970s. Two survive, 744.003 at Cagliari and 744.118.