Two colors remain etched in the traveler's mind along the 35 kilometers of the Val Tanaro Railway, from Ceva to Ormea, aboard vintage carriages: the green of the valley floor and the woods covering the mountain slopes, dotted with castles, thermal baths, and charming historic villages, and the azure of the Tanaro River's waters, alongside which the railway runs for long stretches, crossing it nine times with daring bridges. Proposed as early as the 1850s as a possible connection between lower Piedmont and western Liguria passing under the Colle di Nava, the construction of a railway in the upper Val Tanaro only materialized several decades later: on September 15, 1889, the first section from Ceva to Priola was activated, on July 15, 1890, the railway reached Garessio, on April 15, 1891, it was extended to Trappa, and finally, on February 15, 1893, it reached Ormea. The continuation to Oneglia, on the Ligurian coast, was never realized, and thus the line was relegated to a secondary role from the beginning. Over the years, many stations were downgraded to stops, and in the early 2000s, operation became a shuttle service, with a single train traveling back and forth along the line, until it ceased completely on June 17, 2012. Since 2016, it has become part of the "Timeless Tracks" project of Fondazione FS and reactivated for tourist operation.