Great Gathering joined by Car Park attendance

Published 15th July 2013

92 mph steam train takes passengers to the Mallard anniversary show.

After all the hype and expectation, the A4 mega-show is on at the National Railway Museum at York. For those that are unable to visit this time, rail.co.uk is delighted to be able to show some of the pictures kindly provided by the National Railway Museum’s Kippa Matthews.

The engines will also be on display in the Autumn at York and in February at Shildon before the two borrowed engines return to America and Canada to their respective museums.

The show was briefly joined by the new build ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado on the afternoon of Saturday July 3 after arriving from Kings Cross on a special charter train to mark the anniversary of the 75th anniversary of steam’s world speed record being made. This was built over a 18 year period by The A1 Steam Trust as none of the original 49 ‘A1s’ were saved from being scrapped in the 1960s and they thought that one should therefore be built!

They said:

Mark Allatt, Chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented:

“We are delighted that Tornado is taking part in the celebration of Mallard’s

world speed record. As the newest LNER-designed express passenger locomotive, Tornado is a post-war development of the class A4s. Today is a celebration of the achievements of the LNER and will highlight the importance in keeping main line steam alive in Britain today.”

Fastest and last

One of the exhibits No. 60009 Union of South Africa is thought to have been the last steam locomotive to haul a scheduled train from King’s Cross in 1966 and the same engine also hauled the first steam train from Kings Cross in the preserved steam era in October 1994.

Classmate No. 4464 Bittern managed a brief 92mph after Doncaster on its special train from Kings Cross on June 29. This is the fastest that a steam train has been authorised to travel at since 1968.

External Links

• National Railway Museum
• A1 Pacific Website