National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum York is Britain's largest museum of historic railway memorabilia in the World which includes locomotives dating back to 1829. The collection began when British Railways inherited the collections of previous railway companies in 1948. British Rail went on to expand them during the 1960's. In 1975, the National Railway Museum, housed in a different building at the time, inherited British Rail's collection and continued to develop it. All areas of railway history are covered in the three exhibition halls.

The Great Hall displays railway carriages ranging from a 1913 dining car to the Japanese bullet train. Mallard, the fastest steam engine in the world is in there. The most famous steam train of them all also stands in the Great Hall and that of course is the Flying Scotsman. A replica of the Eurostar's nose cone is set in a channel tunnel ring. Twice a day one of the largest turntables in the UK is used and has one of the historic locomotives sat in the middle. The Interactive Learning Centre explores the science, history and technology, including learning how to drive a steam locomotive.

Station Hall is a re-created station, complete with sound effects it contains a variety of carriages, wagons, dining cars and sleeping compartments as well as coaches which visitors can peer into. "Palaces on Wheels" is the Royal Trains exhibition which includes carriages dating from the 1840's to the 1940's. England's kings and queens travelled in these carriages with bedroom, dining room, and saloons.

The Works is a £4 million extension housing three unique galleries: The Workshop, The Working Railway and The Warehouse? From in here you can witness the traditional skills of the engineers as they work to conserve the magnificent railway trains and carriages in their care. After experiencing the sounds and smells from the workshop floor, you can discover more about life as a railway engineer in the workshop. The Working Railway explores the many aspects of railway control; you can share the computerised view of approaching trains then watch them pass by from our unique trackside balcony overlooking the East Coast Main Line. The Warehouse is packed with national treasures and railway memorabilia, thousands of which have never before been on public display. Over 5,000 unusual objects and artefacts, railway vehicles and carriages create this truly astonishing collection.

The Flying Scotsman under Steam

Mallard the fastest Steam Train in Britain

The Flying Scotsman at
Kings Cross Station

The Flying Scotsman at
Doncaster Station

The Flying Scotsman

Ask anyone to name a famous locomotive and you can be sure that the words 'The Flying Scotsman' will immediately roll off the tongue. She was designed by the famous engineer Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley, who designed the A1 class 'Gresley Pacifics' which were intended for long distance express services from London to Edinburgh. Although No. 1472 was the third of the A1Class to be built for the Great Northern Railway (GNR), the first new locomotive built for the newly formed London North Eastern Railway (LNER). This majestic locomotive was completed on the 7th February 1923 at the London and North Eastern railway's Doncaster works and was put on public display at Marylebone Station and had cost £7944 to build.

She was re-numbered 4472 in 1924 under the new (LNER)numbering scheme, named The Flying Scotsman, and placed before the public. This established a pattern for the (LNER) of using The Flying Scotsman as a flagship locomotive around the UK. In 1928 The Flying Scotsman Engine pulled the Flying Scotsman train on its first non-stop run. She was only able to achieve this because the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the (LNER), Sir Nigel Gresley, had improved the efficiency of his design to a point where it could travel 392 miles on one tender of coal. Sir Nigel also designed a ‘corridor’ tender to allow a crew change midway through the journey, thus The Flying Scotsman became a household name. In 1934, Flying Scotsman achieved the first authenticated 100mph by a steam locomotive. The record was made as part of a proving test for the introduction of high-speed, streamlined expresses between London, Newcastle and Leeds. However, Nigel Gresley ensured that when Flying Scotsman steamed into Kings Cross the Press were there to record the achievement.

In 2004 Flying Scotsman was bought for the Nation. The National Railway Museum was only able to offer the locomotive a home through the generosity of the general public, The Heritage Lottery Fund, Yorkshire Forward and Virgin Rail. The Flying Scotsman has now been withdrawn from service; the current period of certification which legally allows it to run on the main line has expired. It will be completely dismantled and overhauled to the highest possible standards in order to re-certify it for the next seven to ten years. The National Railway Museum is hoping to complete this process by late 2007 in order that the locomotive can be back. Most of the overhaul will take place in the workshops at York

Mallard

When our present Queen came to the throne in 1952, people referred to themselves as 'new Elizabethans'. In 1953 as its contribution to this new spirit British Railways renamed its summer-only “non-stop Kings Cross to Edinburgh express "The Elizabethan". The train was steam's last fling on the East Coast route and ran until the advent of the Deltics (Diesels) which put an end to non-stop steam running after 1961. "The Elizabethan" was always hauled by one of the Class A4 4-6-2s fitted with a corridor tender so that crews could be changed while on the move. The most famous of these streamline superstars is 60022 Mallard the holder of the world speed record for steam locomotives and on its side Mallard proudly carries the plaque commemorating its record-breaking run on 3 July 1938 when it snatched the record for steam with 126mph. It broke the record on the slight downwards grade of Stoke Bank south of Grantham on the East Coast Main Line, and the highest speed was recorded at milepost 90¼, between Little Bytham and Essendine. It broke the German 1936 record of (125 mph).

Stoke Bank had a descending gradient of between 1:178 and 1:200. ''Mallard,'' had six coaches plus a dynamometer car in tow, and topped Stoke Summit at 75 mph it then began to accelerate downhill. The speeds at the end of each mile from the summit were recorded at: 87½, 96½, 104, 107, 111½, 116 and 119 mph and half-mile readings after that gave 120¾, 122½, 123, 124¼ and finally 125 mph. The indicator diagrams on the dynamometer car traced a momentary maximum of 126 mph.
Shortly after the this record speed, ''Mallard'' suffered an overheated inside big end bearing and had to limp back to Doncaster railway works for repair

"Mallard'' was the perfect locomotive for such an endeavour; one of the A4 class of streamlined engines designed for sustained 100+ mph running, it was one of a small number equipped with a double chimney and double blastpipe, which made for improved draughting and better exhaust flow at speed. The A4's three-cylinder design gave it better stability at speed, and the large 6 ft 8 in driving wheels meant that the maximum revolutions per minute was within the capabilities of the technology of the day.

The Japanese Bullet Train

New Bullet Train 500 Not at the NRM York

Bullet Train

Japan is renowned throughout the world for its highly efficient train service, with levels of reliability that are simply astonishing. Throughout Japan there is an extensive rail network served by local and express trains and the world-famous Bullet Trains commonly known as (Shinkansen), which came into service in 1964 coinciding with Olympic Games in Tokyo. Japanese people enjoy some of the smoothest train journeys in the world as they travel over the specially built lines and reach speeds of up to 300kmh. When the Bullet train service began in 1964 it cut the travel time between Tokyo and Osaka from six and a half to four hours. Today it can be done in a mere two and half hours.

The 500 series Shinkansen is officially the fastest train in the world as it has the highest average speed between stopping stations, with a top speed of 300kph and an average of 261.8kph between Hiroshima and Kokura. In contrast, Britain's best is provided by the GNER service on the East Coast main-line with a top speed of 200kph and an average of 180.2kph between London and York.

What is particularly significant about the Shinkansen is that they run near to top speed for much of their journey as there is a lack of corners, inclines, and level crossings,  moreover they run on a dedicated line (and so do not have to worry about other trains crossing over or joining the line). This allows the companies to run trains more frequently, and makes it easier to run them on time and safely. The end result is trains often departing as regularly as every five minutes on the Tokaido lines, with the 400 metre long trains often full with over 1,000 passengers on board.

In Japan if a train is more than 60 seconds late it is officially declared to be so (compared to five minutes in Britain). The average delay on the shinkansen is 0.4 minutes. Since the Shinkansen started there have been no fatalities on the service due to collisions, derailments and so on.

Eurostar

In 1994 the Queen and President Mitterrand of France formally opened the Channel Tunnel during two ceremonies in France and Britain. After travelling through the tunnel, which took eight years to build, the Queen said it was one of the world's great technological achievements. The tunnel is the first land link between Britain and Europe since the Ice Age some 40 million years ago. The first leg of the Queen's journey took her from London's Waterloo station through the tunnel by high-speed Eurostar passenger train. Eurostar did not start carrying passengers until July 1994 and private cars had to wait until October of that year.

Eurostar is now the fasted way of getting from London to Paris or Brussels (about three hours to either). The passenger trains leave from London Waterloo regularly, and get you in to Paris Gare du Nord or Brussels Midi/Zuid. Cars can also go by Eurostar basically you motor to the British or French terminal, drive on to a special train, and drive off at the other end. It’s quicker than the ferry and the trains run more regularly. The number of passengers carried through the Tunnel on Eurostar trains increased to almost 7.3 million in 2004, an increase of 15 % on the 2003.

Eurostar in the National Railway Museum York

Eurostar at Waterloo Station

Stephenson’s Rocket

The Rocket was designed and built by George Stephenson with the help of his son Robert and Henry Booth for the 1829 Rainhill Trials. The Trials were held by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company to find the best locomotive engine for a railway line that was being built to serve these two English cities. On the day of the Trials 15,000 people came along to see locomotives.
During the race the Rocket reached speeds of 24mph during the 20 laps, this was due to several of the new design features. It was the first locomotive to have a multi-tube boiler with 25 copper tubes instead of a single flue or twin flue. The blast pipe also increased the draught to the fire by concentrating exhaust steam at the base of the chimney. This meant the boiler could generate more power so the Rocket was able to go faster than its rival, and thus secure its place in history.

How things have travelled forward since the Rocket first won the Rainhill Trials, from a top speed of just 24 miles per hour then, to the Bullet Train that goes at a top speed of 187.5 miles per hour now, how times have changed.

For details on how to visit the National Railway Museum follow the Link www.nrm.org.uk