Mallard

I know it,s a bit early but the 3rd July 2013 will be the 75th anniversary of the record breaking run. Are any plans to hand to celebrate this occasion as in 1988? Time passes quickly.................it would be wishful thinking to have it back out on the main line..............or would it?

 

No doubt the NRM will have a 'do' of some sort - perhaps one of the Railtour operators will do something a la Coronation to commemorate it? SNG will still be on the mainline, Bittern may be, I think, and UoSA may be back.

The NRM will be busy with 4472 by then and I would be flabbergasted if they made 4468 a runner.

Personally, (and I know this is a tad heretical), I'm quite happy to let 4468 be the static exhibit - I don't know how much of it is original 1930s Mallard material, but it seems sensible to retain as much of the original fabric of such a historical engine as possible, especially when there are THREE of the exact same class on the mainline/being overhauled for mainline duties. If it were to be overhauled it would need OTMR and TPWS, too.

What I really would like to see however would be one of the other three taken back to LNER condition, complete with valances. It's a majestic look, that would be a great marketing exercise.

 

That would be a real crowd puller .we can only pray

 

Maybe the NRM should have kept Scotsmans old A4 boiler instead of selling it and have repaired ready to drop in the Mallard's frames to speed up it's overhaul!

 

And a nice earner in these difficult financial times..

 

Whilst Mallard would need these adding, would I be right in thinking that when she was last overhauled for the 1988 anniversary, she didn't run for her full ticket? Others will know more about this than me as I was only 3 at the time, but all the information I can find suggest that she was given an overhaul to main-line condition, and only run for a few tours during that year.
If thats true then there shouldn't be a lot of work required to bring her back again should there?

I wholeheartedly agree. Should Mallard not run again, the sight of another A4 in original condition would be fantastic.

 

Wasn't there talk several years ago that 4468 would be overhauled in time for the 75th anniversary of the record run? If so, I don't see it happening.

 

personally i cant see it happening guys, lets be realistic, if it was going to happen it would have been in the works by now, the NRM seem pretty busy with 4472, but as has been mentioned, do we really need Mallard to go mainline when we have two currently strutting thier stuff out on the mainline and 60009 prolly be back in two years. Although i do argree it would be nice to see one back in LNER colours, failing that wasn't bittern painted up as silver link a good few years back........................now there is food for thought!

 

after several minutes of thinking the answer is.... YES

 

IIRC, the overhaul for the 1988 anniversary wasn't a full overhaul. Enough work was done to enable her to get a limited ticket for something like 25 steamings without too much original material needing to be replaced. That said, she ran for a couple of years, including several Shakespeare Expresses and a few trips to Scarborough, and was pretty reliable.

 

There is only one Mallard and no disrespect to the other three A4s and their owners but Mallard is the A4 that's in the public consciousness. When one of the A4s goes through my local station, many casual observers refer to it as either "the Mallard" or "a Mallard." I'm sure she'd be a great money earner if she was back in traffic.

 

That's as I understand it. Although mechanically reasonable, the boiler would need a lot of work, which is why it only had a limited 'ticket'.

 

I doubt they'd notice it was a "fake" tbh.

 

But we wouldn't !

 

In my opinion, I don't see it as a viable venture. The locomotive is 70 years old, and to have to replace much material to get her running again would not be preserving what is a very historically important engine. Yes, it would pull in the crowds, Yes, it would be fantastic, but do i want the NRM to do it? No. Scotsman will hopefully be operational by then, enough money has been put into that, we will have possibly 3 A4s on the mainline, and Tornado, is those 5 LNER derived locomotives not enough?

As a publicity stunt, one of the A4s could be made to pretend to be Mallard for the event, and I am all for having one of them back in garter blue, but not Mallard itself back on the mainline.

 

By the hundredth anniversary there just might be some new high speed rail routes about to open in this country... what better way to publicise it by letting Mallard/ one of her sisters ' go for the ton'. as a complete one off - just to get the 21st century record back off the Germans...

 

I'll second that - pounding through Ruislip on HS2!

 

The loco being 70 years old is irrelevant (that would make it one of the younger engines, remember, the last one built by BR was 51 years ago). You could use the same argument against bringing back the "Flying Scotsman" to the mainline which is also considered by many to be an important engine.

No ... :smile: