LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link
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Silver Link was the first LNER A4 Class locomotive, built in 1935 to pull a new train called the Silver Jubilee.
[edit] History
Silver Link made its inaugural journey from King's Cross on 29th September 1935. It reached a speed of 112mph, breaking all previous records. The record provoked LNER and their chief rival LMS to enter a highly competitive speed war, each attempting to out-do the other by building ever faster locomoatives. This was chiefly instigated by Sir Nigel Gresley, LNER's chief mechanical engineer and his counterpart at LMS, Sir William Stanier.
However World War 2 and the gradual switch to diesel locomotives ensured that this did not happen for very long and the locomotive was scrapped during Dr. Beeching's reformation of British Railways.
For a number of years, its surviving sister locomotive, Bittern was painted to represent Silver Link in its original silver and black livery.
The locomotive made a brief appearance in the Will Hay film Oh, Mr. Porter!. It was also the subject of the iconic art deco posters for the Silver Jubilee.
