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LNER Class A4 No. 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood was an A4 class locomotive of the LNER. Built at Doncaster Works, it was originally named Gadwall, being renamed Sir Ralph Wedgwood in March 1939 in recognition of Wedgwood's sixteen years of service as Chief Officer of the LNER between 1923 and 1939.
No. 4469 was built at the Doncaster Works as builders number 1871 in 1938. It received the name Gadwall, and was allocated to Gateshead shed on completion. It was paired with non-corridor tender No. 5672 built new in 1938; as one of the A4 class locomotives built for general express duties it was painted in garter blue.
In March 1939, No. 4469 was officially renamed Sir Ralph Wedgwood shortly before the retirement of its namesake. This was one of three locomotives to be named after LNER officials in that year, the others being No. 4499 Sir Murrough Wilson (originally Pochard, renamed April 1939) and 4500 Sir Ronald Matthews (formerly Garganey, renamed March 1939). Following the outbreak of World War II, No. 4469 initially retained its garter blue livery before being repainted into wartime black. The valances over the driving wheels were also removed for ease of access to the locomotive's valve gear.
In late April 1942, No. 4469 received repairs at Doncaster Works and was temporarily allocated to Doncaster shed for running in on local services before returning to Gateshead. It was stabled at York North Shed on the night of 28/29 April 1942, the night of the Baedeker raid on York. During the attack, York station and North Shed were bombed; during the attack No. 4469 and another nearby engine, B16 class No. 925 were damaged after a bomb fell through the shed roof and exploded between the two engines.
The locomotive was severely damaged as a result of the explosion, but was recovered and towed to Doncaster shortly afterward. Due to the degree of damage, it was considered impractical to rebuild No. 4469, and the locomotive was condemned and later scrapped. Tender No. 5672, attached to No. 4469 since new in 1938, was stored at Doncaster until 1945, when it was then rebuilt, given the new tender number 703 and attached to LNER Thompson Class A2/1 No. 3696 Highland Chieftain. [1] The chime whistle was also removed and fitted to Y8 class 0-4-0T No. 560 as a trial. [2]
Following the scrapping of No. 4469, one of its damaged nameplates was rescued from scrap by a member of the Doncaster workshops staff for preservation at his home. It was later sold by his grandson in the early 2000s, with speculation that the National Railway Museum would seek to obtain it; the NRM subsequently were unable to purchase it and it became part of a private collection. A new set of nameplates were made two years later in 1944 and fitted to A4 No. 4466, formerly named Herring Gull, and which carried these plates until withdrawn as British Railways No. 60006 on 3 September 1965 and scrapped on 31 October that year.
A plaque was placed on the spot where No. 4469 was destroyed in 1942, now within the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum, by the Gresley Society on 29 April 1992 to mark the 50th anniversary of the raid.
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.
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).
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At that time, it was divided into the new British Railways' Eastern Region, North Eastern Region, and partially the Scottish Region.
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.
60008 Dwight D Eisenhower is an LNER Class A4 steam locomotive named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the United States General of the Army.
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.
60007 Sir Nigel Gresley is an LNER Class A4 4-6-2 ("Pacific") steam locomotive built to a design of Sir Nigel Gresley in 1937 at Doncaster Works for operation on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The locomotive holds the post-war speed record for steam locomotives on British Railways. The locomotive was withdrawn from service in 1966 and purchased for preservation the same year; it is one of six A4s to be preserved.
4489 Dominion of Canada is an LNER Class A4 steam locomotive. It is a 4-6-2 locomotive built to the same design by Sir Nigel Gresley as the more famous Mallard. There were 35 A4 locomotives built in total. Originally numbered 4489, it was renumbered 10 on 10 May 1946, under the LNER 1946 renumbering scheme of Edward Thompson and, after nationalisation in 1948, British Railways added 60000 to its number so it became 60010 on 27 October 1948. It was renumbered back to 4489 following a cosmetic restoration at the National Railway Museum in York during late 2012 and early 2013.
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.
Sir Ralph Lewis Wedgwood, 1st Baronet, was the Chief Officer of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) for 16 years from its inauguration in 1923. He was chairman of the wartime Railway Executive Committee from September 1939 to August 1941.
The North Eastern Railway Class S3, classified B16 by the LNER, was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for mixed traffic work. It was designed by Vincent Raven and introduced in 1920. The earlier members of this class were fitted with Westinghouse Brakes - all of this equipment was removed during the 1930s.
Edward Thompson was an English railway engineer, and was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway between 1941 and 1946. Edward Thompson was born at Marlborough, Wiltshire on 25 June 1881. He was the son of Francis Thompson, assistant master at Marlborough College. He was educated at Marlborough before taking the Mechanical Science Tripos at Pembroke College, Cambridge, earning a third class degree. Thompson entered the railway scene after education, contrasting that of his predecessor Nigel Gresley, who had also attended Marlborough after gaining practical experience as a pupil at Horwich Works.
The LNER W1 No. 10000 was an experimental steam locomotive fitted with a high pressure water-tube boiler. Nigel Gresley was impressed by the results of using high-pressure steam in marine applications and so in 1924 he approached Harold Yarrow of shipyard and boilermakers Yarrow & Company of Glasgow to design a suitable boiler for a railway locomotive, based on Yarrow's design.
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 North Eastern Railway (NER) Class K classified as Class Y8 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a class of 0-4-0T steam locomotives designed for shunting. It was designed by Thomas W. Worsdell and five of these tiny engines were built in 1890. These were numbered 559-63.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) operated various classes steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement. The LNER operated more pacifics than any other of the Big Four British railway companies, and they were mostly used for express passenger work along the East Coast Main Line, though later in their lives many were displaced to other lines.
LNER Class A4 4902 Seagull was one of 35 Doncaster built LNER Class A4 Gresley Pacific steam locomotives.
LNER Class A4 60034 Lord Faringdon was one of 35 Doncaster built Class A4 Gresley Pacific steam locomotives.
LNER Class A4 4483 Kingfisher was a Class A4 steam locomotive of the London and North Eastern Railway.
