Rivarossi 9015 FS ETR 450 IC500/517 Giotto Milano-Roma 4 Car EMU V HO Gauge

FS ETR 450 IC500/517 Giotto Milano-Roma 4 Car EMU V 1:87 scale model produced by Rivarossi. This model is ready-to-run straight out of the box and would make a excellent addition to any model railway collection. Features: Analogue DC Model Best suited to Epoch V Model Railways Decorated in FS company markings Best suited to 356mm radius curves Flywheel Fitted Close Coupler Details The FS Class ETR 450 is a pioneering Italian tilting electric trainset built by Fiat Ferroviaria and introduced into service in 1988 on the Direttissima high-speed route between Rome and Florence. It was the first production train to use active pendulum tilting technology, allowing higher speeds on sharply curved conventional lines by leaning into bends, improving both speed and passenger comfort. The name ETR stands for ElettroTreno Rapido, meaning rapid electric train, and the 450 series helped set new standards in European high-speed rail travel. ETR 450 trainsets were formed as fixed-consist multiple units powered by onboard electric traction and operated under Italy’s 3 kV DC overhead system. With a service speed around 200 km/h, they transformed express services on routes with mixed infrastructure, blending high performance with the freedom to run on both upgraded conventional and high-speed lines. The tilting system allowed significantly faster schedules on routes where full high-speed lines were not available. The ETR 450 remained in regular passenger service into the 2000s, later replaced on some commercial diagrams by newer generations of Pendolino and other high-speed EMUs. Some units were repurposed for charter or regional services before eventual retirement. Their significance and distinctive profile make the FS Class ETR 450 a compelling prototype for modern Italian high-speed layouts, especially for depicting the dawn of tilting technology in HO and N scales.