60009 'Union of South Africa' Gresley A4 Pacific seen after arrival at Lincoln Central
Gresley A4 Pacific <b>60009 'Union of South Africa'</b> is seen here after arrival at Lincoln Central - the locomotive was working The Cathedrals Express between London and Lincoln, to coincide with the Lincoln Christmas Market.

<b>The Gresley A4 Pacifics</b> were a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and introduced in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them a high-speed capability, as well as making them instantly recognisable, and one of the class, 4468 'Mallard', holds the world speed record of 126 mph for a steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle, and later to Edinburgh. They remained in service on the ECML until the early 1960s, when they were replaced by the Deltics. Some of the A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on the Aberdeen - Glasgow route. 

<b>Names</b> - the first four locomotives built included the word 'silver' in their names because they were intended to haul the Silver Jubilee train. 2512 'Silver Fox' of this batch carried a stainless-steel fox near the centre of the streamline casing on each side, made by the Sheffield steelmakers Samuel Fox and Company. The next batch of A4s were named after birds, particularly those that were fast flyers, Gresley being a keen bird-watcher. Five of the class (4488–92) were named after British Empire countries to haul the new Anglo-Scottish Coronation train, and two (4495/6), intended to haul the new West Riding Limited, received names connected to the wool trade - 'Golden Fleece' and 'Golden Shuttle'. 4498 was the hundredth Gresley Pacific to be built, and was appropriately named after him. Subsequently, some other A4s were later renamed, usually to names of directors of the LNER.

<b>Withdrawals</b> - one locomotive, No. 4469 'Sir Ralph Wedgwood', was withdrawn and scrapped after being damaged beyond repair in a German bombing raid on York on 29 April 1942 during World War Two. The next five withdrawals, in Dec 1962, were: 60003 'Andrew K. McCosh', 60014 'Silver Link', 60028 'Walter K. Whigham', 60030 'Golden Fleece' and 60033 'Seagull'. The rest of the class was withdrawn between 1963 and 1966. The last six in service were: 60004 'William Whitelaw', 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley', 60009 'Union of South Africa', 60019 'Bittern', 60024 'Kingfisher' and 60034 'Lord Faringdon'.

<b>Preservation</b> - six of the 35 locomotives were been preserved, four of which are based in the UK and have run on the BR main line at some point during their preservation career. Another two 'Dominion of Canada' and 'Dwight D. Eisenhower' were exported to museums in Canada and the US respectively, upon withdrawal by British Railways. During 2013, 4464 'Bittern' underwent a series of high-speed runs, partly in commemoration of Mallard's record, partly to see if mainline speeds for certain heritage steam locomotives could be increased (The current maximum is 75 mph). During the &quot;Tyne Tees Streak&quot; run, Bittern broke its own 91 mph speed record set just a few months prior by reaching a maximum speed of 93 mph (149.7 km/h).

From 2015 to 2020, 60009 'Union of South Africa' was the only A4 operational with a valid mainline certificate until it expired in 2020; 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley' was withdrawn for overhaul on 20 Sep 2015 and 4464 'Bittern' operated until the end of 2015 at the Watercress Line, when it was withdrawn and placed on static display in 2018 at Crewe. 60009 'Union of South Africa' was withdrawn in Oct 2021 due to boiler issues, and with the coming expiration of its boiler certificate in early 2022. 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley' finally returned to the mainline on 21 Apr 2022 following the completion of its major overhaul. As of 2022, five of the six surviving A4's are on static display, with the only working one being 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley'. [Information courtesy of Wiki - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4</a>]

<b>Locomotive history - 4488 'Union of South Africa'</b> was built by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1937 at Doncaster Works. It was named after the then newly formed Union of South Africa. It had previously been allocated the name 'Osprey' and painted in LNER apple green livery on 17 April 1937, but was renamed and repainted into LNER garter blue livery to operate The Coronation. The next livery applied was LNER wartime black on 21 March 1942. This livery was amended on 14 August 1943 when the &quot;L&quot; and &quot;R&quot; were removed to confuse potential spies, leaving the all-black locomotive with just &quot;NE&quot; on the tender. 21 February 1947 saw 'Union of South Africa' regain garter blue with red and white lining. Its number was changed to just 9 on 12 January 1946, under the renumbering scheme of Nigel Gresley's successor, Edward Thompson. It gained a stainless steel number 9 during this repaint. On 4 August 1949, 60009 was repainted in the standard British Railways express passenger blue livery. Finally on 2 October 1952, 'Union of South Africa' was painted in British Railways green livery. It has worn this livery throughout preservation to date. More on LNER Class A4 4488 / 60009 Union of South Africa here: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_4488_Union_of_South_Africa" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_4488_Union_of_South_A...</a>

You can see a random selection of my railway photos here on Flickriver: <a href="http://www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/</a>


steam lincoln a4 preservation 60009 a4pacific church locomotive gresley unionofsouthafrica