The Coronation Scot was a named express passenger train of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway inaugurated in 1937 for the Coronation of King George VI which ran until the start of the war in 1939. It ran on the West Coast Main Line between London (Euston station) and Glasgow (Central station), stopping at Carlisle for crew change and to pick up and set down passengers to and from London only. The service was designed to compete with the rival services on the East Coast Main Line, for prestigious London to Scotland traffic. It was scheduled to complete the journey from London to Glasgow in 6 hours 30 minutes.[1]
The streamlined Coronation Class locomotives were specially developed for the service, and were amongst the most powerful steam locomotives to operate on British railways. On a press run preparatory to the introduction of the service in June 1937, LMS Princess Coronation Class 6220 Coronation, newly built, achieved a speed of 114 miles per hour (183 km/h) near Crewe.
Three trainsets were formed from existing carriages and given a blue livery similar in colour to that previously used by the Caledonian Railway (the LMS' normal livery was crimson lake of the former Midland Railway). The first five of the Coronation Class pacifics were also turned out in blue with silver "cheat lines".
The train formation was (first class towards London end):
A popular piece of light orchestral music celebrating this train was composed by Vivian Ellis. This was used as the theme tune for the BBC Radio programme, Paul Temple.[2]
The following two references cover the carriages; for the engines see the "LMS Princess Coronation Class" article.