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LNER Class A3 2750 Papyrus was a 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotive built for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley, entering service in March 1929. Primarily used to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line by LNER and its successor, British Railways, it is notable for achieving what was at the time a world record-breaking speed for a steam locomotive of 108 mph on 5 March, 1935. [1] [2] A fictionalized account based on the locomotive's service history and speed record, 2750: Legend of a Locomotive by H.C. Webster, was published in 1953 and reprinted in 2016. [3]
The LNER Class A3 locomotives were first produced in 1927, as a development of the original Gresley Pacifics, the A1 Class introduced in 1922. [1] Early improvements in the design were identified and implemented as the result of trials and test runs occurring in 1924/25. They included improved valve gear and superheater design and increased boiler pressure. These developments resulted in greater tractive effort and higher fuel efficiency, thus enabling the locomotives to haul heavy loads over longer distances without refueling. The tenders were also redesigned, with a corridor to enable crews to change during a long run. [1]
Ultimately, the A3 class included both A1 locomotives rebuilt to A3 specifications and a further 27 locomotives built as such between 1927 and 1936. No. 2750 Papyrus was one of the latter, entering service in March 1929, with the propose of hauling long-distance express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line. In common with many members of the class, Papyrus was named for a contemporary race horse. The locomotive remained in service with the LNER until nationalization of Britain's railways in 1948, and continued in service with British Railways (renumbered 60096) until September 1963, when it was withdrawn and subsequently scrapped. H.C. Webster's book 2750: Legend of a Locomotive [3] provides an account of the locomotive's service with the LNER, written from the perspective of the driver. The characters and dialog in the book are fictional, but it characterizes events and operations that appear to be broadly consistent with the known history of the locomotive.
British railway companies that operated main-line routes from London to Scotland had a history of competition to provide the fastest passenger service between these destinations, beginning in the late 1800s, with what became known as the Race to the North. Following the Railways Act 1921, many smaller companies were merged into groupings known as the 'Big Four', two of which operated the primary routes between London and Scotland: the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) via the East Coast Main Line, and the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway via the West Coast Main Line. Gresley's A1 and A3 class locomotives were assigned to the LNER's Flying Scotsman service, a daily non-stop express between London and Edinburgh via the east-coast route, beginning in 1928. [4]
To test the capabilities of these locomotives for maximum speed and sustained high-speed running, Papyrus was selected for a trial run that occurred on 5 March, 1935. [1] [2] [5] During the trial, hauling a 217-ton load that included a dynamometer car to provide an accurate record of performance, Papyrus reached a peak speed of 108 miles per hour and maintained a speed above 100 mph for 12.5 consecutive miles on the southbound East Coast Main Line between Grantham and Peterborough. Subsequently, higher peak speeds were recorded for streamlined steam locomotives on Britain's railways, including the LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link (112.5 mph, September 1935), the LMS Coronation Class 6220 Coronation (114 mph, June 1937) and the LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard (126 mph, July 1938, the current holder of the world speed record for a steam locomotive). However, Papyrus continues to hold world records for both peak speed and sustained high-speed running for a non-streamlined steam locomotive.
Scale models of Gresley A3 Class locomotives are typically stylized as the Flying Scotsman, thereby representing the most famous and only surviving member of the class. [6] Only a few models of Papyrus have been manufactured to date. Dapol produced an N-gauge model in 2012. Hattons produced an O-gauge model in 2019. [7] [8]
The LNER Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognisable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard, holds the record as the world's fastest steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle, and later via Newcastle to Edinburgh, Scotland. They remained in service on the East Coast Main Line until the early 1960s when they were replaced by Deltic diesel locomotives; they themselves proving to be worthy successors to the A4s. Several A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on the Aberdeen – Glasgow express trains, for which they were used to improve the timing from 3.5 to 3 hours.
The 4073 or Castle Class are 4-6-0 steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway, built between 1923 and 1950. They were designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working the company's express passenger trains. They could reach speeds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h).
Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley was a British railway engineer. He was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the LNER Class A1 and LNER Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific engines. An A1 Pacific, Flying Scotsman, was the first steam locomotive officially recorded over 100 mph in passenger service, and an A4, number 4468 Mallard, still holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world (126 mph).
LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard is a 4-6-2 ("Pacific") steam locomotive built in 1938 for operation on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. Its streamlined, wind tunnel tested design allowed it to haul long distance express passenger services at high speeds. On 3 July 1938, Mallard broke the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph (203 km/h), which still stands today.
60009 Union of South Africa is a LNER Class A4 steam locomotive built at Doncaster Works on 16 April 1937. It is one of six surviving A4s. Its mainline certification expired in April 2020. As the locomotive is subject to a boiler inspection, it was moved to the East Lancashire Railway as the original plan was to keep it running there until the end of boiler certificate and then send it somewhere else for static display, but a cracked boiler tube forced it into retirement prematurely. It was briefly renamed Osprey during part of the 1980s and 1990s due to political opposition against apartheid in South Africa at the time.
No. 4472 Flying Scotsman is a LNER Class A3 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotive built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line by LNER and its successors, British Railways' Eastern and North Eastern Regions, notably on The Flying Scotsman service between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley after which it was named.
The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that operates between Edinburgh and London, the capitals respectively of Scotland and England, via the East Coast Main Line. The service began in 1862 as the Special Scotch Express until it was officially adopted in 1924. It is currently operated by the London North Eastern Railway.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class V2 2-6-2 steam locomotives were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for express mixed traffic work, and built at the LNER shops at Doncaster and Darlington between 1936 and 1944. The best known is the first of the class, 4771 Green Arrow, which is the sole survivor of the class.
4464Bittern is a London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A4 steam locomotive. Built for the LNER and completed on 18 December 1937 at Doncaster Works as works number 1866, it received number 4464. After that it was renumbered 19 on 16 August 1946 under the LNER 1946 renumbering scheme, and finally 60019 by British Railways on 10 October 1948, after nationalisation. Of the 35 strong class, it is one of six to survive into preservation but it is one of only two currently scheduled to be certified for mainline use.
London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a class of 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives largely built between 1948 and 1949 at Doncaster and Darlington Works to a design of Arthur Peppercorn. Forty-nine were built for hauling express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line owned by LNER's successor, British Railways' North Eastern Region. None of the original 49 Peppercorn A1s survived into preservation, with the last being scrapped in 1966. The 50th Peppercorn A1, 60163 Tornado, was completed in 2008 as an evolved member of its class.
Class A1 in the London and North Eastern Railway's classification system may refer to any of the following British steam locomotives :
The London and North Eastern Railway Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were designed for main line passenger services and later express passenger services, initially on the Great Northern Railway (GNR), a constituent company of the London and North Eastern Railway after the amalgamation of 1923, for which they became a standard design. The change in class designation to A3 reflected the fitting to the same chassis of a higher pressure boiler with a greater superheating surface and a small reduction in cylinder diameter, leading to an increase in locomotive weight. Eventually all of the A1 locomotives were rebuilt, most to A3 specifications, but no. 4470 was completely rebuilt as Class A1/1.
LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link was a 4-6-2 "Pacific" built in 1935 for the London and North Eastern Railway. It was the first of the Streamlined Class A4s built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line (ECML). 2509 was one of four A4s to be painted in a special silver livery to pull a new train called the Silver Jubilee.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class B17, also known as "Sandringham" or "Footballer" class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for hauling passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line. In total 73 were built.
The Race to the North was the name given by the press to occasions in two summers of the late 19th century when British passenger trains belonging to different companies would literally race each other from London to Edinburgh over the two principal rail trunk routes connecting the English capital city to Scotland – the West Coast Main Line which runs from London Euston via Crewe and Carlisle and the East Coast Main Line route from London King's Cross via York and Newcastle. The "races" were never official and publicly the companies denied that what happened was racing at all. Results were not announced officially and the outcomes have since been hotly debated. In the 20th century there were also occasions of competition for speed on the two routes.
LNER Peppercorn Class A1 No. 60163 Tornado is a 4-6-2 steam locomotive completed in 2008 to an original design by Arthur Peppercorn. It is the first new build British mainline steam locomotive since 1960, and the only Peppercorn Class A1 in existence after the original batch were scrapped. In 2017, Tornado became the first steam locomotive to officially reach 100 mph (160 km/h) on British tracks in over 50 years.
The London and North Eastern Railway Class P2 was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for working heavy express trains over the harsh Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line. As they were to serve on Scottish expresses, they were given famous names from Scottish lore.
The history of rail transport in Great Britain 1923–1947 covers the period when the British railway system was run by the Big Four group of companies – the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); the Great Western Railway (GWR); the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER); and the Southern Railway (SR). The period includes the investment following World War I; the rise in competition from the roads in the 1920s; development of steam locomotives capable of sustained 100 mph (160 km/h) running; the Great Depression of the 1930s; World War II and its aftermath; and the lead up to nationalisation during 1947.
The Race to the North is an episode of Top Gear that featured a three-way race held in 2009 between a Jaguar XK120 car, a Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle, and railway locomotive 60163 Tornado – a brand new mainline steam engine completed in Britain in 2008. The race saw the car, bike and locomotive, race from London, England, to Edinburgh, Scotland, a journey of around 400 miles (640 km). Eighteen months in the planning, the race was filmed in secret on 25 April 2009, and shown on 21 June 2009 as the first episode of the thirteenth series of Top Gear
The Flying Scotsman is a 1929 British black and white part-talkie film set on the Flying Scotsman train from London to Edinburgh, also featuring the famous locomotive LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. Directed by Castleton Knight, the thriller is chiefly remembered for being the first acting role of Ray Milland, as well as for its daring stunts performed aboard the moving train.