What did I just see - steam locomotive

[Vocal Minority]

Leaving London in the direction of Reading at around 12.30, and saw something interesting in a siding outside a shed near Ealing. I literally only saw it for a second, but it was in steam, and the very distinctive LNER blue.

I have only personally seen that colour on a4 pacific class engines before, to my very limited knowledge the only two wearing it currently are Mallard and Sir Nigel Gresley. As far as I am aware the boiler cert on the former is long expired?

So was it SNG? Or is there another option?

Edited by Vocal Minority on Wednesday 3rd December 12:48

Edited by Vocal Minority on Wednesday 3rd December 16:23

[pherlopolus]

I think Bittern is still blue and cleared for mainline use...

[RichB]

You beat me to it Tonker, yes Bittern is kept at Southall at the moment. You may also see Standard class Oliver Cromwell and often a Merchant Navy or whatever. It's quite a busy shed these days...


Southall 34067, 44871, 45407, 60009, 60019, 70013

[Zad]

This is Bittern's schedule tomorrow: http://www.uksteam.info/tours/t14/t1204b.htm

Last year it did Newcastle to York and set a new record for the run, peaking at 94.6 mph. Next year it is due a major overhaul, so who knows, it may even be able of cracking the ton! As part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of Mallard's record run last year, it regularly did the London-York run at a sustained 90 mph.

[Vocal Minority]

Awesome - cheers guys.

Glad I looked up from the computer at the right moment.

[Boatbuoy]

Just to enhance your A4 knowledge, there are 6 surviving A4's. They are:

Number Currently Worn	Name	Current Colour	Home / Location	Status
4464	Bittern	LNER Blue	Southall	Operable
4468	Mallard	LNER Blue	National Railway Musuem, York	Static
4489	Dominion of Canada	LNER Blue	Canadian Railway Musuem, Qubec, Canada	Static
60007	Sir Nigel Gresley	BR Blue	North Yorkshire Moors Railway	Operable
60008	Dwight D. Eisenhower	BR Green	National Railway Musuem, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA	Static
60009	Union of South Africa	BR Green	Thornton	Operable

Edited by Boatbuoy on Wednesday 3rd December 22:45

[RichB]

[Zad]

And they look like this:





https://www.flickr.com/photos/60727594@N03/9252800...

[Zad]

Snap!

[onyx39]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Fanstastic!

[DaveGoddard]

As we have a thread about A4s this seems the best place to ask - is Mallard currently on public display at the NRM? I'm going there on Saturday all being well and it'd be great to take a close look at her.

[Yertis]

Zad said:

And they look like this:





https://www.flickr.com/photos/60727594@N03/9252800...

The should be done with all the surviving Bulleid pacifics - that would make an impressive sight.

[onyx39]

Boatbuoy said:

Just to enhance your A4 knowledge, there are 6 surviving A4's. They are:

Number Currently Worn	Name	Current Colour	Home / Location	Status
4464	Bittern	LNER Blue	Southall	Operable
4468	Mallard	LNER Blue	National Railway Musuem, York	Static
4489	Dominion of Canada	LNER Blue	Canadian Railway Musuem, Qubec, Canada	Static
60007	Sir Nigel Gresley	BR Blue	North Yorkshire Moors Railway	Operable
60008	Dwight D. Eisenhower	BR Green	National Railway Musuem, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA	Static
60009	Union of South Africa	BR Green	Thornton	Operable

Edited by Boatbuoy on Wednesday 3rd December 22:45

My cousin is an avid trainspotter and happened to be on a visit to York, he had no idea that this re-union was planned, and was absolutely gobsmacked when he walked into the shed to be greeted by this. Totally blown away. They really are stunning machines.

[Fluid]

The pictures of them all together are from Shildon.

[RichB]

Fluid said:

The pictures of them all together are from Shildon.

The external picture is while the internal shot is at York.

[LC2]

Boatbuoy said:

Just to enhance your A4 knowledge, there are 6 surviving A4's. They are:

Number Currently Worn	Name	Current Colour	Home / Location	Status
4464	Bittern	LNER Blue	Southall	Operable
4468	Mallard	LNER Blue	National Railway Musuem, York	Static
4489	Dominion of Canada	LNER Blue	Canadian Railway Musuem, Qubec, Canada	Static
60007	Sir Nigel Gresley	BR Blue	North Yorkshire Moors Railway	Operable
60008	Dwight D. Eisenhower	BR Green	National Railway Musuem, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA	Static
60009	Union of South Africa	BR Green	Thornton	Operable

Edited by Boatbuoy on Wednesday 3rd December 22:45

Bittern's ticket runs out at the end of the year iirc, so that would have been one of the last chances to see her on the main line for a while.
I don't think she's going back to Ropley for overhaul, so I wonder where she'll be going.

[Fluid]

RichB said:

Fluid said:

The pictures of them all together are from Shildon.

The external picture is while the internal shot is at York.

Didn't realise they had all been together at York.

I've got a strong Family connection at Shildon, so automatically thought of there.

[Vocal Minority]

RichB said:

The old boy went to see these at York. I regret not finding the time. My favourite loco from when I was a youngster. Captured my imagination like nothing else quite could.

I still have my Hornby 00 of Silver Link I got at Christmas when I was 9 or 10.

Silver Link will always be my favourite because of that.

Thanks so much for everyone contributions. It has been educational, and made me smile.

[Zad]

DaveGoddard said:

As we have a thread about A4s this seems the best place to ask - is Mallard currently on public display at the NRM? I'm going there on Saturday all being well and it'd be great to take a close look at her.

It should be, the great hall at York is where it "lives". It is a static exhibit now, but occasionally it does get trundled to places like Shildon and Doncaster for special events.

Sister loco 60009 Union of South Africa was extensively overhauled 2 years ago and runs regularly on various mainline tours. It came through one of my local stations last year:

IMG_4861-Union-of-South-Africa by Zad, on Flickr

[RichB]

This is a good short montage of clips from YouTube of Bittern on it's 90mph runs last year. Not bad when you consider she's 75 years old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ez5og1iFU8