The LNER Encyclopedia

Reading my reprinted copy of Harris, there is a tantalising mention of an LNER proposal to construct a rake of stainless steel coaches for use in a high speed London to Sheffield service.

Had this been accepted, it would have looked a fine sight in ex-works condition. However the soot laden air of the 1930s would have soon rendered it filthy, which seems to be the main reason why the proposal made no further progress.

Does anyone have any further information on this? Was the train a serious consideration at any stage? If so, would there have been a stainless steel clad A4 to work the service?

I seem to remember that the subject came up in the Board Minutes, but I am sure that it was not acted on and certainly have never seen a drawing amid the other 'might have beens'.

strang steel wrote:a stainless steel clad A4 to work the service?

Thoughts and feelings towards this concept?

That A4 looks very good, but the reflective nature of stainless steel would be very difficult to portray in a diagram.

Presumably, the whole train would have been a publicity venture to honour the major production output of Sheffield.

I like to try and imagine it at speed on the ECML, but in reality would have taken an army of cleaners to keep in an impressive condition.

strang steel wrote:the reflective nature of stainless steel would be very difficult to portray in a diagram.

Agreed

The shade I've picked isn't to portray ex - works, but a duller, worn in casing. I've picked black wheels to portray American styling. I was tempted to put a coloured stripe down the loco

Blackout60800 wrote:

strang steel wrote:the reflective nature of stainless steel would be very difficult to portray in a diagram.

Agreed

The shade I've picked isn't to portray ex - works, but a duller, worn in casing. I've picked black wheels to portray American styling. I was tempted to put a coloured stripe down the loco

Ay up!

Had you put the stripe in I'd have had to head your way, armed to the teeth! Looks good as it is.

there is various grades of stainless,some are magnetic to those with i think have a high nickle content,the cheaper grades are only suitable for internal and will tarnish readerly in a damp area the higher nickel contents are used outside especialy in a coastal area ,also it is a lot heavier and harder to work ie shearing a 6mm plate is like cutting a 12mm mild steel plate,
it can leave very sharp edges and is a lot more expensive thats why they make razor blades out of it.
so weight wise and cost i would rule it out as it would reduce the number of carriages on a train.

I wonder what grade was used on the deloreans?

third-rail wrote:there is various grades of stainless,some are magnetic to those with i think have a high nickle content,the cheaper grades are only suitable for internal and will tarnish readerly in a damp area the higher nickel contents are used outside especialy in a coastal area ,also it is a lot heavier and harder to work ie shearing a 6mm plate is like cutting a 12mm mild steel plate,
it can leave very sharp edges and is a lot more expensive thats why they make razor blades out of it.
so weight wise and cost i would rule it out as it would reduce the number of carriages on a train.

Are we talking about modern day stainless steel, or that which was available in 1936?

i was talking about modern stainless, but i suspect the early ones were nickel coated steel. was nickel mined in enough quantity back then to make high quality stainless?

Having seen samples of the original stainless trim off beaver tail 1729, I can safely say it looks just like modern polished stainless steel.

Sawdust.

Wasn't the Egytian Sentinal multiple unit stainless?
The one that came back to Quainton? a number of years back.

Having been up close and personal with that unit at Quainton Road, it is painted a very light grey. Back in the days before H&S went crazy, you used to be able to literally crawl over many of the items on site, as with a lot of other outfits, but I do remember being told in no uncertain terms not to go on the triplet because it was in such a bad state. Didn't stop me looking over what I could see at the time (aged 6 up to 10), and being amazed at how rusty it was under the paint.

third-rail wrote:there is various grades of stainless,some are magnetic to those with i think have a high nickle content,the cheaper grades are only suitable for internal and will tarnish readerly in a damp area the higher nickel contents are used outside especialy in a coastal area ,also it is a lot heavier and harder to work ie shearing a 6mm plate is like cutting a 12mm mild steel plate,
it can leave very sharp edges and is a lot more expensive thats why they make razor blades out of it.
so weight wise and cost i would rule it out as it would reduce the number of carriages on a train.

Non magnetic stainless steel is called austenitic stainless steel. It isn't hardenable by heat treatment so it's not easy to make sharp edges. A special mix of austenitic stainless steel called T304 is used for surgical instruments which is naturally very hard. Non austenitic stainless steels can be heat treated and are used in cheaper brand kitchen knives. Thats why they have a tendancy to tarnish and get rust spots.
Despite It's density is approx 8 tonnes per m3 opposed to 7.85 tonnes for mild steel, its greater hardness means much thinner plating could be used, and would probably make the coach lighter. As a rule coach platework is just mild steel.