Mallard 75

[Nathan]

I have been a train fan since I was about 6-7 years old, always wanting to see the Mallard iont en the metal, through my teenage years the interest died down until building my 3 year old son a hornby train set at christmas reignated the magic of a bygone era.

I have since read an awful lot of stories online, from Fred Wagstaffs tales on David Heys collection - to a number of restorations and the building of Tornado and if im honest I keep reading mroe whenever I have time. But that hampering to see Mallard in the metal and Flying Scotsman as well as BR's last fling with steam Evening Star, was always there. I then heard about the Great Gathering at the National Railway Museum.

Please don't excuse me for a train expert, as much as I would love to be one eventually, until fairly recently the most knowledge I had was regarding wheel arrangements and telling apart the diferent wheel arrangements. I can remember a few facts and that is about it, and it is this reason I didnt sign up when I first found this site about 6 months ago, I didnt feel worthy and just lurked around the place reading.

We are regulars on our local East Lancs Railway (at least every couple of months) and try to do what we can for the preservation of these wonderful locomotives.

The one reason I signed up was my childhood ambition was realised yesterday - I saw Mallard, Scotsman and was shocked to see 92220 as I thought it was at shildon. We took our son up to York for the afternoon and what can I say - what amazing pieces of engineering by a very talented designer and the 100's of me who made and maintained them. As my wife said, I was like a kid in a candy shop as I kept walking off amazed looking at the trains.

The only disapointment for me was City of Truro appeared a little out of the way, and where they have placed Scotsman is a bit hidden like an old toy left in the corner. I heard a fair few Americans saying they were told Flying Scotsman was in the workshop that you could see from the gantry but they couldnt identify her unless you saw her nameplate from a set angle.

Whilst I will try and add value to the forum - it is from a (currently) 29 Year olds perspective who doesnt have a clue about steam as the mass form of transport but still has a love for it.

I will upload some pictures from yesterday to here and a website I have started building in my spare time, I wont post the link on here until it at least looks more than just a wasteland.

[60800]

Welcome to the forums Nathan

Collectively on these forums, we can pretty much tell you everything you want to know regarding locomotives of the LNER and it's constituent companies and indeed Eastern region motive power up to present day operations. It's not just locomotives though as we have a number of former shed and loco men who can tell you about infrastructure, shed operation, locomotive allocations, rolling stock, signalling, station arrangements, etc - covering pretty much the entire Eastern region. Dare I mention we have a few from t'other sides too? (Midland, Western and Southern regions)

My main interest lies in the locomotives of the Robinson, Gresley, Thompson and Peppercorn eras and preserved steam + model railways, but I'm starting to take an interest in signalling

[Nathan]

Welcome to the forums Nathan

Collectively on these forums, we can pretty much tell you everything you want to know regarding locomotives of the LNER and it's constituent companies and indeed Eastern region motive power up to present day operations. It's not just locomotives though as we have a number of former shed and loco men who can tell you about infrastructure, shed operation, locomotive allocations, rolling stock, signalling, station arrangements, etc - covering pretty much the entire Eastern region.

My main interest lies in the locomotives of the Robinson, Gresley, Thompson and Peppercorn eras and preserved steam + model railways, but I'm starting to take an interest in signalling

I am still forming my main interest designer wise, at the minute I have just spent 6 months reading quite a lot of information and if I am honest I am still quite awestruck by it all and realise my interest in the locomotive operation side is quite small compared to the big picture of signals etc (until about 2-3 months ago I did not realise there were upper and lower quadrant signals, The signals I had as a child went Down and so I thought that was what all semaphore signals did.

I have been reading on here and other websites a lot of what the loco men and fitters did - it fascinates me and I take my hat off. The working conditions must have been quite difficult, driving up to the NRM yesterday and I thought to myself, im sat in an nice, well damped and sprung air conditioned mondeo feeling quite confortable - it would be difficult in this car to stand at these speeds - how did they do this when on the footplate! I have nothing but admiration for what they did.

Thank you for the kind welcome.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Welcome Nathan,

If you want to see and feel how it was to work on a steam loco, take a trip on one of the 4 wheel 'Pacer' rail buses, once they get up to about 50mph, they start to 'rock and roll' all you have to do, is try to walk up and down the coach, without hanging on ( that's the guards job) now imagine that you have a heavy shovel in you hand, and have to keep bending down to shovel the coal turning 180 degrees at the same time (that's the fireman's job) the driver had it a bit easier, he could lean against the side of the cab and do his job.

More than once I've been knocked off of my feet, by the lurching of a 'Pacer' whilst trying to collect tickets

manna