4-6-2 A4 LNER Garter Blue NV

4-6-2 A4 LNER Garter Blue NV

The A4 Pacific 4-6-2 designed by Sir Nigel Gresley Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway (1923-1941), was designed to compete with and beat the speed record of 114 mph set by Stanier's LMS Coronation Pacific. Gresley achieved this goal by taking and holding the World Speed record for Steam set on the 3rd July 1938 at a measured 126 mph (202 kph). The locomotive in question was the now famous Mallard, built in 1937 at a cost of 8,500 (Pounds Stirling) and not withdrawn from service until 1963.

Thirty five examples of the A4 Pacific were built, the first being 'Silver Link' operating the 'Silver Jubilee' express passenger train service between Kings Cross, London to Newcastle via Darlington. No later steam design ever replaced the A4 from service over the prime routes such as the 'The Elizabethan' between London and Edinburgh non-stop. Developed in a series of wind tunnel tests, the body evolved to minimise aerodynamic drag, but also featured an effect to ensure clearance of the smoke away from the drivers view.

Enlarged steam passages from the regulator to the blastpipe made for extremely good free-running and additional firebox volume in the form of a combustion chamber helped steam production and was matched by a Kylchap double-chimney exhaust system, which was initially limited to a few locomotives but later retrofitted to the entire fleet.

The first A4s were painted in Silver schemes, then LNER Green locomotives were introduced and used as general service locomotives and given bird names, while others were painted in Garter Blue carrying Empire names such as 'Union Of South Africa' and 'Dominion of Canada'. Eventually all A4s wore the Garter Blue scheme but as WW2 came about they were repainted in black and heavily loaded, 4469 'Sir Ralph Wedgewood' being lost in an air raid in York. During this period, much of the side skirting was also removed to facilitate fast maintenance of a vital component of the war effort. Over time many were renamed in honour of various individuals that included of course 'Sir Nigel Gresley', but also 'Dwight D. Eisenhower' and many others.

Leading particulars include: Total Weight 169.7 Tonnes, Tractive Effort 35,492 lbs, Adhesive Weight 148,000 lbs, Steam Pressure 250 psi, 80' Driving wheels, Three 18.5' x 26' Cylinders.

Designed and used primarily as a Passenger Express, six remain preserved and some are in fact under renovation including 'Bittern' the story of which can be found http://www.watercressline.co.uk/tw/pages/bittern1.htm

LNER
No. Name

4464 Bittern
4483 Kingfisher
4492 Dominion of New Zealand
4495 Golden Fleece (Originally named 'Great Snipe')
4496 Golden Shuttle
4497 Golden Plover
4498 Sir Nigel Gresley
4499 Pochard
4900 Gannet
4901 Charles H. Newton


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This rendition of the A4 Pacific is my attempt to update the first GMAX loco I created for Trainz and hopefully embodies most of what I've learnt over a series of steam locos since that first attempt. Throughout this period I have been ably supported, redirected and generally kept on the right track by the tireless efforts in 'testing' and research by Sir John Ewan (JWEwan).

Author: Allan Rees

4-6-2 A4 LNER Garter Blue NV
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_alpha_numbers
alphanumber_0a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_0b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_1a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_1b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_2a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_2b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_3a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_3b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_4a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_4b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_5a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_5b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_6a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_6b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_7a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_7b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_8a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_8b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_9a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_9b.tga 128.53KB
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_art
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_art_512.texture.txt 107 bytes
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_art_512.tga 1.00MB
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_art_icon.texture.txt 109 bytes
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_art_icon.tga 17.04KB
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_body
a4 garter blue cabside.texture.txt 45 bytes
a4 garter blue cabside.tga 768.53KB
a4_lner_garter_blue_nv_body.pm 2.35MB
black.texture.txt 28 bytes
black.tga 1.28KB
brassy.texture.txt 29 bytes
brassy.tga 12.53KB
bronzy dark.texture.txt 34 bytes
bronzy dark.tga 12.53KB
bronzy.texture.txt 29 bytes
bronzy.tga 12.53KB
buffer red no.texture.txt 36 bytes
buffer red no.tga 48.53KB
charcoal.texture.txt 31 bytes
charcoal.tga 12.02KB
digit_3a.texture.txt 31 bytes
digit_3a.tga 16.53KB
digit_4a.texture.txt 31 bytes
digit_4a.tga 16.53KB
digit_5a.texture.txt 31 bytes
digit_5a.tga 16.53KB
digit_6a.texture.txt 31 bytes
digit_6a.tga 16.53KB
digit_6b.texture.txt 31 bytes
digit_6b.tga 96.53KB
doncaster-doncaster.texture.txt 53 bytes
doncaster.bmp 24.05KB
doncaster.tga 25.04KB
env_metal.texture.txt 32 bytes
env_metal.tga 48.02KB
fire.texture.txt 27 bytes
fire.tga 192.53KB
lmsbr black.texture.txt 34 bytes
lmsbr black.tga 12.02KB
lner blackrcharcoal.texture.txt 42 bytes
lner blackrcharcoal.tga 192.53KB
lner garter blue band blue.texture.txt 49 bytes
lner garter blue band blue.tga 13.04KB
lner garter blue black.texture.txt 45 bytes
lner garter blue black.tga 192.53KB
lner garter blue slnose.texture.txt 46 bytes
lner garter blue slnose.tga 768.53KB
lner garter blue.texture.txt 39 bytes
lner garter blue.tga 12.53KB
lner garterbluesblack.texture.txt 44 bytes
lner garterbluesblack.tga 193.04KB
mallard brako.texture.txt 36 bytes
mallard brako.tga 192.53KB
mallard presso.texture.txt 37 bytes
mallard presso.tga 192.53KB
mallard speedo.texture.txt 37 bytes
mallard speedo.tga 192.53KB
metaldsk dark.texture.txt 36 bytes
metaldsk dark.tga 48.02KB
no lner.texture.txt 30 bytes
no lner.tga 12.53KB
panel-panel.texture.txt 45 bytes
panel.bmp 24.05KB
panel.tga 25.04KB
red.texture.txt 26 bytes
red.tga 12.04KB
silver.texture.txt 29 bytes
silver.tga 12.04KB
steamconts.texture.txt 33 bytes
steamconts.tga 192.53KB
• config.txt 10.49KB
• screenshot.jpg 9.83KB