Museum Franco Risi

On the website you will find detailed information on a collection of vintage steam engines that has been put together over the course of more than 40 years. You will find photos, videos, comments, and technical data sheets of all the machines. You can read the details for each of the photos and request further information about them via the contacts provided.

The different sections of the site are not only meant to showcase the Collection of vintage machines, but also serve other purposes.

 

• In the Repairs section you will find pictures and information regarding the latest machine or equipment undergoing restoration and, whenever possible, construction details including comments, drawings and much more.

• In the Events & News section you will find information about leading demonstration events in which the machines and the museum have participated or will be participating, which can also be attended in person.

• Via the Contacts section, as well as giving you directions on how to get to the museum, we hope that we will be able to get to know many of you who share a passion similar to ours and with whom we can exchange information, advice and news about the world of steam.

• The Press Review section collects and will continue to collect web publications featuring articles related to the collection or that are somehow connected to the museum. We include them as we think it might be interesting for those who read them to gain a few insights from various sources.

He was born in 1934 in San Giovanni in Persiceto, in the province of Bologna. His passion for mechanics and steam began at a young age: when he was about 14 years old, he built his first fully functional model of a steam portable engine with a wooden threshing machine that could make small bales of straw; he was able to do this by using unexploded cannon shells found in the fields.



When he was 18 years old, his entrepreneurial journey began when he opened a metalworking company that kept him occupied for several years, keeping him from nurturing his lifelong passion. In the late 1970s he finally managed to make some time and find spaces where he could continue to pursue his ‘steam dream’, and in 1980 he was able to fully restore the first portable engine. The Hofherr Schrantz Clayton Shuttleworth, which is still on display at the museum.

Over the years it was followed by many others, some of which are still on show in the museum complex, while others have been exchanged with fellow collectors.