Will A4 bittern run again?

The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust has announced that it will be working with Locomotive Services Group to overhaul and help return LNER A4 No. 60019 'Bittern' back to service. This news builds on the agreement signed in 2019 to operate 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley on the mainline with LSG.



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Bittern was sold to Geoff Drury in September 1966. It initially operated from York depot (site of the National Railway Museum today) on various steam charters, but the cracked frames and other symptoms of its long career soon spelled an end to its mainline working.

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One of them, 4468 Mallard, is the fastest steam locomotive ever made. It set a world speed record of 126 mph (202.7 km/h) on July 3, 1938. Six A4s still exist today. The rest were scrapped when steam stopped being used to power trains in Britain.

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Mallard today Mallard retired from service in 1963 and was subsequently preserved in 1964 by the British Transport Commission.

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Engines may be left idling to maintain important safety related functions such as maintaining engine temperature, air pressure for the brake system, the integrity of the starting systems, the electrical system and providing heating or cooling to a train's crew and/or passengers.

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On 3 July 1938, Mallard broke the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph (203 km/h), which still stands today.

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Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built for the LNER, the locomotive was named 'Flying Scotsman' in 1923 and continued in regular service until 1963 and then later in preservation. Today, it is owned by the National Railway Museum in York and is operated and maintained by Riley & Son (E) Ltd.

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60532 Blue Peter is the sole survivor of 15 4-6-2 locomotives of the A2 class, designed by Arthur Peppercorn of the LNER. 60532 worked between 1948 and 1966. It is owned by the Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust (RSL&GT), currently under overhaul at their LNWR Heritage facility based at Crewe.

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  • LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link.
  • LNER Class A4 4464 Bittern.
  • LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard.
  • LNER Class A4 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood.
  • LNER Class A4 4483 Kingfisher.
  • LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa.
  • LNER Class A4 4489 Dominion of Canada.
  • LNER Class A4 4496 Dwight D Eisenhower.


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Flying Scotsman is owned by the National Railway Museum and operated and maintained by Riley & Son (E) Ltd.

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Mercifully, new trains no longer dump waste on the tracks. Instead, trains are fitted with chemical holding tanks. These are connected to regular toilets or vacuum toilets. Like aeroplanes, these need to be emptied regularly, leading to trains having to return to terminal stations.

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Idling switchers use between 3 and Il gallons of fuel per hour depending on the ambient temperature. If a switcher idles 12 hours a day in warm weather and burns 3 gallons of fuel per hour, it would consume 36 gallons of fuel per day.

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A train engine requires about a hundred litres of fuel to get it started. So it wouldn't be economical if the engine is stopped and started frequently. This apart, if the engine is stopped, the moving parts' lubrication will also come to a halt.

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60103 Flying Scotsman leaves the Swanage Railway 08/11/2022 - YouTube. Ex-LNER A3 Class - 60103 Flying Scotsman has left the Swanage Railway in Dorset, at the end of the Gresley pacifics' working visit to the heritage railway.

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