Issue 178

Contents Issue 178 July 11 – August 1, 2013
Cover
Main pic: LNER A4 Pacific No. 4468
Mallard and No. 4489 Dominion of Canada
at the National Railway Museum at
York on July 3. JOHN TITLOW.
 Above: The Great Gathering of all
six surviving A4s, Nos. 4464/68/89 and
60007/8/9. JOE DICK

News
14 HEADLINE NEWS
A4 Bittern sets new preservation era speed
record of 92.5mph on the East Coast Main
Line; funding fears linger as National
Railway Museum closure threat lied; A1
Trust replays £500k bonds to build Tornado
three years early plus St David’s Day 2014
date set for first Llangollen Railway train
into Corwen.

18 News
Mallard to return to Grantham in
September; Great Central Railway bridge
appeal raises £100k in first fortnight; West
Somerset Railway Association offers to buy
freehold of line; Sir Lamiel withdrawn from
main line; Clan Line in steel wagons
shunting display at Sheffield; S160 for sale in
North Yorkshire Moors Railway stock clearout;
£60 locomotive badge sells for £9100;
London Transport reclaims ‘lost’ Ongar
branch – picture special; A4 Walter K.
Whigham nameplate set for auction; royal
accolade for Severn valley and Talyllyn
railway volunteers; £1.5m Lottery boosts for
Severn Valley and South Tynedale railways;
red prairie steals the show at Felixstowe
Docks and goes on loan to Bluebell for the
summer; repatriated Pacifics for new
Aberystwyth museum; Bluebell carriage
graffiti vandal jailed; France’s Vivarais
Railway returns to steam aer five years,
John Travolta steals the show at Leighton
Buzzard and archive collection reveals A4
Dominion of Canada’s final days before
transatlantic journey.

Regulars
54 CENTRE
Duchess of Sutherland, on the East Coast
Main Line at Newcastle, is this month’s
centre by Dave Collier.

56 MAIN LINE NEWS
Ten-year boost for NYMR Whitby services;
paperwork scotches A4 Sir Nigel Gresley’s
‘Cathedrals Express’ tour duty; Nunney
Castle back on the main line, why Britannia
missed steel shunting duties and Dawlish
signalbox to be demolished.

62 MAIN LINE ITINERARY
Brian Sharpe’s definitive guide to steam and
heritage modern traction railtours in the
coming month.

86 RAILWAYANA
by Geoff Courtney.

74 PLATFORM
Where your views matter the most.

87 MORGAN
Heritage Railway Association chairman
David Morgan on how railway preservation
and the Great Gathering of the six A4s is
bringing people together.

89 REVIEWS
The latest book and DVD releases.

90 SCALE HERITAGE RAILWAY
Bachmann prairie and pannier released.

94 UP & RUNNING
Brian Sharpe’s complete listing of museums
and operational heritage lines.

106 THE MONTH AHEAD
Our new at-a-glance guide to the big events
coming up in the next four weeks, with
Heritage Railway, as usual, bringing
unrivalled coverage.

Features
50 BEEFED UP ‘CATHEDRALS’!
Delayed by a number of factors, including a cow,
a challenging but successful long-distance tour
featured A4s once again on the King’s Cross to
Edinburgh line and another exemplary
performance by Tornado. Brian Sharpe reports

64 GONE… BUT NEVER, NEVER FORGOTTEN
Marking the Great Gathering, one of the seminal
moments in the history of railway preservation,
Brian Sharpe and Robin Jones complete the lineup
by picturing each of the 29 A4 Pacifics that
sadly are no longer here with us to celebrate
Mallard’s anniversary.

78 1968: THE GRAND FINALE IN RETROSPECT... 45 YEARS ON!
Five years on from the last series of anniversary
events, the story of the end of BR steam becomes
ever clearer. Alan Castle fills in some possible gaps
in our knowledge.

92 WESTERN STEAM ON SHED
Photo charter images which revive
memories of BR steam sheds in the 1950s.