Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 19, 2008

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A1/A3 represent two stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were designed for main line passenger services, initially on the Great Northern Railway (GNR), a constituent company of the London and North Eastern Railway after the amalgamation of 1923, for which they became a standard design. The change in class designation to A3 reflected the fitting to the same chassis of a higher pressure boiler with a greater superheating surface and a small reduction in cylinder diameter, leading to an increase in locomotive weight. Eventually all of the A1 locomotives were rebuilt to A3 specifications. The names for the locomotives came from a variety of sources. The first, Great Northern, was named after its parent company. Others were given the names of high-ranking railway officials, but most were given the names of famous racehorses. One was named after the company's most famous long-distance passenger train, the Flying Scotsman (also the name of a racehorse). Flying Scotsman is the sole survivor of the class to be preserved. As of 2008, it is under mechanical overhaul at the National Railway Museum.

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