hello it's the 14th of May 2018 I'm in
Catania on the island of Sicily and I'm
about to catch a vintage train to go up
a volcano
I've come to Bordeaux station in Catania
the starting point of a unique little
railway this is the federal via chip
comet near the round Etna railway now
you may have heard of Etna it's one of
the most active volcanoes in the world
and by far the biggest in Europe unless
you count the Canary Islands which are
in Africa it's currently three thousand
three hundred and twenty-nine metres
high although to quote Wikipedia this
varies which gives you some idea of just
how frequently eruptions are so what on
earth is a narrow gauge railway doing
going up a volcano well although the
Cherica matinee is fetchingly retro
stations and trains might give it the
look and feel of a heritage line this is
a working railway which links the
surrounding villages and brings
commuters and school kids into Catania
it's been doing safe for more than a
hundred years construction began on the
line in 1889 and it was opened in 1895
this diesel railcar isn't quite as old
as that but it dates back to the early
1970s so it's pushing 50 years old
leaving the suburbs of Catania behind
it's not long before you're in the lava
fields surrounded by volcanic rock and
there in the distance is the mountain
that's responsible for all of it in
places it's an almost lunar landscape
with very few plants at all but you'll
also see areas that are absolutely
covered in pistachio trees this region
is renowned throughout Italy for the
quality and intense flavor of its
pistachios and it seems that the local
industry relies on the railway to
transport produce as well as bringing
pistachio loving tourists to the town of
Bronte for its annual pistachio Festival
if vintage machinery is more your thing
then check out the control room at
Bordeaux or this train indicator at
Bronte which tells you that a train is
arriving from riposte off on platform
two very useful if you want to know
where your train has come from a little
further down the line is the town of run
dots or which is where a lot of trains
termini we're about three-quarters of
the way around Etna here and
is the closest station to the summit so
it's a good place to get off if you want
to go hiking and if like me you didn't
give yourself enough time to climb all
the way up at now it's still well worth
getting out here and doing a bit of
exploring it's not a fast journey it
takes over two hours to make the 70
kilometer trip to run down so but who
cares when on one side you've got the
towering peak of Etna and on the other a
beautiful view down the slope and across
the valley to the mountains beyond the
chip remetanea is very gradually
modernizing these new trains have
arrived in the last few years and has to
be said they are much more comfortable
to ride in
but why all these old diesel rail cars
might be looking forward to their
retirement I hope they keep going for a
little while yet because let's face it
there are very few places in the world
where they combine vintage transport and
volcanoes quite like they do here
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transport and I will see you soon