#4 [ENG] The Steam Train Gamba de Legn in Corso Vercelli

Between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, if you had wanted to leave Milan to reach outlying places such as Vaprio, Saronno, Lodi or Monza, you would surely have taken a steam locomotive shrouded in the pungent smell of smoke. These trains were affectionately called “Gamba de Legn,” meaning “wooden legs”, probably because of their slow, limping pace. Of the many in operation, the last remaining one, the Milano-Magenta service, was retired in 1957. As witnesses of a Milan that no longer exists, these locomotives caught the attention and imagination of Mario De Biasi.Silvia De Biasi takes us behind the lens with her father.“In 1951 my father documented the path of the Gamba de Legn in a reportage he made for his own personal interest. Positioning himself at the exit of the depot in Corso Vercelli, he immortalised the puff of smoke of the locomotive by choosing a shot from above, as he did many other times, turning this view into his distinctive feature. When others asked him for advice on how to take a good picture, he often replied: ‘First, go up high and look from there.’ In addition to being a historical document, this photo is also important for another reason: it is one of the first Mondadori chose for publication. It was the beginning of a long, successful collaboration with the publisher that saw my father always in the ‘front line,’ in every corner of the world, among the main photojournalists hired by the magazine Epoca.His reliability, his tenacity in bringing a service home, his always-go-further attitude were some of his qualities that were particularly appreciated by Mondadori, which employed my father as a professional photographer for years."