MALLARD MARKS 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF SPEED RECORD
Published at 00:00 on Wednesday 3rd July 2013
Tags: Mallard, A4, NRM, York, Great Gathering
Mallard joins its five remaining classmates inside the Great Hall at the NRM on 3rd July 2013. National Railway Museum - Kipper Mathews
History was made in York on 3rd July, as the world’s fastest steam locomotive, Mallard, was united with its five surviving classmates in the National Railway Museum’s Great Hall, a spectacular international family reunion.
Two of the streamlined giants were repatriated from the North Americas and are fresh from a complex cosmetic restoration which has seen them transform from sixties shabbiness to the glamour of their heyday.
As the Museum’s 75-day countdown to the anniversary of Mallard breaking the world steam speed record finally reached its end, pilgrims from all over the world including Canada, the US and Australia were amassed to celebrate Mallard’s achievement and witness a sight never-seen-before which fulfilled the dreams of rail fans everywhere.
Mallard greeted its fellow 'A4s' Nos. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, 60008 Dwight D Eisenhower, 60009 Union of South Africa, 4464 Bittern and 4489 Dominion of Canada with its characteristic chime whistle before being ceremonially shunted into its display position. A fanfare played by the York Railway Institute Brass Band marked Mallard’s arrival into the Hall of Railway Greats and signalled that the Great Gathering, the centrepiece of the Mallard 75 celebrations, was complete.
