4-6-2 A4 LNER Black

4-6-2 A4 LNER Black

Perhaps the pinnacle of steam powered express locomotion, the Gresley A4 Pacific class 4-6-2, conceived and built in the mid 1930s by Sir Nigel Gresley, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), was designed to compete with and beat the speed record of 114 mph set by William Stanier's London Midland and Scotland (LMS) Coronation Pacific.

On the 3rd July 1938, the LNER 4-6-2 A4 Class No. 4468 ‘Mallard’, driven by Joe Duddington and fired by Tommy Bray, on a stretch of the East Coast Main Line between Peterborough and Grantham took the World speed record at a measured 126 mph (202 kph), Its record as the world's fastest steam locomotive has never been beaten.

The World beating train consisted of three of the 'Coronation' twin sets, plus the dynamometer car, seven vehicles in all weighing 240 tons. All this being achieved just one year after the record run set by the LMS Coronation Pacific.

The ‘Mallard’ was built in 1937 at a cost of 8,500 (Pounds Stirling) and remained in service until 1963. The A4 class was developed for high speed passenger transport along the East Coast Mainline London-Edinburgh route, as a rival project to the LMS Silver Link which operated through the Midlands from London to Glasgow.

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 depressions around the chimney to cause an effect to ensure clearance of the smoke away from the drivers view.

The first four A4s were painted in Silver schemes and provided ‘Silver’ names, but then LNER Green locomotives were introduced and used as general service locomotives sporting bird names, while still later 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.

The needs and stresses of war meant that much of the valances were removed to facilitate fast maintenance of a vital component of the war effort. During this period 4469 'Sir Ralph Wedgewood' was lost in an air raid in York.

Over time many were renamed in honour of individuals that included of course 'Sir Nigel Gresley', but also 'Dwight D. Eisenhower' and many others.

Six remain preserved and some are in fact under renovation.

4464 (60019) Bittern – Mid Hants Railway http://www.watercressline.co.uk/tw/pages/bittern1.htm

4468 (60022) Mallard - National Railway Museum – York UK http://www.nrm.org.uk

4488 Union of South Africa Union of South Africa is running in England under private ownership, in BR green

4489 (60010) Dominion of Canada Dominion of Canada is on display in the Canadian Railway Museum, Montreal, Canada, in BR Green.
http://www.exporail.org/association/intro_crha.htm

4496 (60008) Dwight D. Eisenhower – Is on display at a museum at Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA.

4498 (60007) Sir Nigel Gresley - Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Preservation Trust http://www.da4e.nl/a4index.html


Leading particulars:

Weight Loco, 102 tons 19 cwt
Tender weight, 64 tons 19cwt
Wheel Arrangement 4-6-2
Leading Wheel 3 ft 2 in
Driving wheels. 6 ft 8 in
Trailing Wheel 3 ft 8 in
Tractive effort. 35,455 Ib
Length 71 ft 0.375 in
Boiler Pressure 250 psi
Flue and tube area 2,345.1 ftВІ
Firebox area 231.2 ftВІ
Superheater area 748.9 ftВІ
Grate area 41.25 ftВІ
Cylinders - 3
Bore x Stroke 18ВЅ in x 26 in
Valve gear Walschaerts
Coal capacity 8 tons
Water capacity 5,000 gallons

Gresley A4 Pacific 4-6-2

LNER
No. Name

4462 William Whitelaw (Originally named 'Great Snipe')
4465 Guillemot
4466 Herring Gull
4467

Author: Allan Rees

4-6-2 A4 LNER Black
a4_lner_black_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 129.04KB
alphanumber_8a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_8b.tga 128.53KB
alphanumber_9a.tga 64.53KB
alphanumber_9b.tga 128.53KB
a4_lner_black_art
a4_lner_black_art_512.texture.txt 89 bytes
a4_lner_black_art_512.tga 1.00MB
a4_lner_black_art_icon.texture.txt 91 bytes
a4_lner_black_art_icon.tga 64.53KB
a4_lner_black_body
a4 lner black cabside.texture.txt 44 bytes
a4 lner black cabside.tga 768.53KB
a4_lner_black_body.im 1,017.49KB
axlebox.texture.txt 30 bytes
axlebox.tga 48.04KB
black black wartime.texture.txt 42 bytes
black black wartime.tga 192.53KB
black blur.texture.txt 33 bytes
black blur.tga 192.53KB
black wartime.texture.txt 36 bytes
black wartime.tga 192.53KB
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
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 24.53KB
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 black band wide.texture.txt 43 bytes
lner black band wide.tga 12.53KB
lner blackrcharcoal.texture.txt 42 bytes
lner blackrcharcoal.tga 192.53KB
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
white paint small.texture.txt 40 bytes
white paint small.tga 48.53KB
a4_lner_black_shadow
a4_lner_black_shadow.pm 5.65KB
black.texture.txt 28 bytes
black.tga 812 bytes
coalman
coal.texture.txt 27 bytes
coal.tga 12.04KB
coal_shoveller.texture.txt 37 bytes
coal_shoveller.tga 768.04KB
coalman.im 56.88KB
coalman_loop1.kin 644.34KB
coalman_loop2.kin 322.83KB
coalman_loop2shovel.kin 48.59KB
coalman_shovel.kin 91.38KB
coalman_shovel2loop.kin 100.32KB
coalman_wave.kin 134.01KB
coalman_wipebrow.kin 225.05KB
m_head_2.bmp 192.05KB
m_head_2.texture.txt 31 bytes
m_pants_1.bmp 384.05KB
m_pants_1.texture.txt 32 bytes
m_shoe.bmp 48.05KB
m_shoe.texture.txt 29 bytes
m_torso_1.bmp 384.05KB
m_torso_1.texture.txt 32 bytes
shovel.bmp 96.05KB
shovel.texture.txt 29 bytes
• config.txt 13.72KB
• screenshot.jpg 9.42KB