Class

Do you like these as well, Anna?

AF
I’m not sure as to the current state of Blue Peter. I know that she tried to thrash herself to death a few years back. An awsome display of the power of a steam locomotive when you saw the damage. The rods were all bent in some wierd angles.

PL
No complaints from this end… Post away.

A1 Class Pacific

60148 Aboyeur in charge of the 3.40 pm from Kings Cross to Leeds and Bradford on 7 August 1961, the same class as the new engine being built.

60163 Tornado will be the first main-line steam locomotive to be built in Britain since 1960.

Am I still an anorak? As far as steam locomotives are concerned – you bet!

I hope you all don’t mind me pumping all these railway pictures on to the net, but I seldom get the chance!

Auster Fan.
They are making a new build LNER A1. It is (to be) called Tornado and will feature IIRC the TTTE crest.
Evening Star is a BR Standard 9F class locomotive.

IOAW

Thanks for putting me straight – my steam knowledge isn’t close to my aviation knowledge, which isn’t saying much! What happened to “Blue Peter”? Last time I saw it on TV, it was looking in a sorry state. 🙁

😀 I have walked over that a few times 😉 Anna 😀 😀

Over the Land Warfare Hall?? 😉 😀 My God, your legs must be longer than they look!! 😀 😀

What steam engines are all about!

This painting by George Heiron from a photograph by Gordon Hepburn shows Gresely LNER Class A1 Pacific 2558 Tracery departing northbound from Grantham station in 1933.
As a young lad aged 9 I was standing in the locomotive sidings just out of the right of this picture when I was introduced to the wonders of steam locomotives in 1952, my first ever Pacific being Archibald Russell. We used to put pennies on the rail to see them squashed to twice their normal size – until we were chased off by the railwaymen; but they couldn’t keep us out for long!

Papa Lima & Anna
The preserved “Black Prince” is due to be recommissioned some time very soon after a three year restoration at the Gloucester/Warwickshire Railway… Should be easier to photograph and it’ll be nice to see a 9F running – something I’ve never managed to date.
OAW

National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 1 August 2003

1. LNER class A4 4496 4-6-2 Pacific 60008 Dwight D Eisenhower, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and imported from the UK, in British Railways livery. Connecting rods painted silver- ugh!
Sister locomotive Mallard, now preserved in York Railway Museum, holds the world steam locomotive speed record on July 3, 1938 at 126 mph. 4496 was originally named Golden Shuttle, but was renamed in September 1945.
2. American Locomotive Company Big Boy 4-8-8-4 X4017, one of a batch of the heaviest steam locomotives ever built, to the Union Pacific’s design.
ALCo delivered the first batch of 20 – including no. 4012 – in 1941, and the remaining 5 in 1944. Big Boys had over one mile of tubes and flues inside the boiler. Their firebox grate measured 150 square feet. They had sixteen drive wheels, each measuring 68 inches. From coupler to coupler they measured 132 feet 9 inches. The tender held 24,000 gallons of water and 28 tons of coal and the engine and tender weighed 1,189,500 pounds in working order. The engines well deserved the name Big Boy which was written on one of the drive rods by an unknown worker at ALCo. They were built to pull long fast freight trains over the Wasatch Mountains of Utah and Sherman Hill in Wyoming. They served there until 1959 when the new diesel-electric locomotives took over. The Big Boys were not the most powerful engines, though they were the heaviest. But no engine ever came close to matching Big Boy’s combination of speed, power and agility.

I’m not into trains at all but it was good of old Pete Waterman to stump up some dosh to get the APT painted and back to good as new display condition at the museum alongside the west coast line.

I think I saw a nice shot of it alongside one of those new Virgin tilting thingies in the paper last week?

The last steam locomotive for British Railways, now in the National Rail Museum at York (and extremely difficult to photograph!)

Papa Lima, thanks for that, I have a great interest in steam trains, as with planes have travelled much of the country to be able to travel on various engines. Winston Churchill is a big Favourite of mine.
Anna 🙂

92220 Evening Star

The last steam locomotive for British Railways, now in the National Rail Museum at York (and extremely difficult to photograph!)

Ok I confess I too have an interest in steam and other forms of transportation… USed to use it to pass the time in the winter when there are/were little flying things to occupy me.

Auster Fan.
They are making a new build LNER A1. It is (to be) called Tornado and will feature IIRC the TTTE crest.
Evening Star is a BR Standard 9F class locomotive.

John C.
The series with Pete Waterman was very good indeed. He no longer owns 4472 – now owned by the nation as NRM and Richard Branson have recently purchased her (IIRC).
He (PW) got death threats I believe because he painted 4472 in the BR colours the dark (Brunswick) green from her traditional LNER (Apple?) green.

Had the pleasure of doing a short ride in the cab of an 8F at the SVR once. And I also seen in my time preserved German Steam on their mainline – they didn’t have a great deal left to preserve after the early 40’s.
Hope of some help or interest to you all.
OAW

50 years a railway anorak

Glad you brought up the subject, Anna, here are some of my favourites, beginning with yours:
1. Stanier Black 5 45305 at Loughborough
2. Replica Stephenson’s Rocket at the NRM York (found another one out the back!)
3. My personal favourite, the Stirling 8 foot single.
4. The epitome of steam – Mallard and a Duchess
😀 😀 😀 😀
There are two framed prints behind my computer – a Spitfire and a picture of the Union Pacific “Big Boy” 4-8-8-4 that I had the privilege of climbing aboard last year at Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Anyone caught that C5 prog with Pete Waterman? Sadly the last episode yesterday, but I hope it’s repeated on council house telly (Satellite/Cable to our colonial friends) soon ‘cos it was really rather good!

Mr Waterman owns/owned the Flying Scotsman – One episode has him talking about getting death threats because he put the Flying Scotsman back to the original shade of green rather than the darker shade that BR had her in. From this I conclude:

1/ He’s not all that bad – but I could only forgive him for crimes against music if he were doing the same for aviation 🙂 (Kylie excepted of course)

2/ Railway enthusiasts are worse anoraks than we are!

JC
Knackered after fitting a kitchen over the weekend

😀 I have walked over that a few times 😉 Anna 😀 😀

What ever happened to the proposal to have the small gauge railway at Duxford up and running, There is track down outside the Land warfare hall which leads into the hall.Does anyone know?

Toot Toot!

Hiya Anna, you should visit the Worth Valley Railway if you are into old steam trains, its a working museum and it was used in the filming of “the railway children”. and for an added bonus it is in ‘Bronte’ country and well worth a visit (plus it has a working tank engine (yes i said TANK!!!) not w*** 😉 ).
Greg

‘Pacific’ Comeback
Returns to duty in Germany after being overhauled at Meiningen works 😉 Anna 😀 😀 😀 :diablo:

[QUOTE=SteveYoung]He’d probably have known my late Granddad then, he was on it too apparently, late thirties.
I dare say he did, i think it was the thirties and forties that he worked on her and his name was Robert Chrystie