Who else but the British could use spent steam to create the draught , every boys dream to drive a steam loco , these sure are lucky experts , for a pack of ciggies for fireman& driver from my dad I boarded Mallard at King's Cross Station and tooted the whistle ,Sure she was in green livery ..Yep the ubiquitous cuppa .Do they change jobs ,,the driver has a seat . No mad drivers on the motorway weaving between cars , the Spanish have a death wish !
Truly brilliant, a great way for someone like myself who unfortunately was born way after the steam era had passed, to really get an appreciation of what wouldve been like on the footplate on mainline running in their heyday.And an A4 into the deal, personally my favourite steam train design as they look so beautiful, although the battle of britian class comes in a close second for me, being a southerner myself. Fantastic work guys.
Fantastic video, really captures the magic of the A4's from the wonder on the little lad's face to the effortless grace and pace when cruising in the 70's and the work of the crew to make it all happen. Quality loco and video, can't believe it's only attracted 5 comments!
On a little table always a pair of cups for a brew up , miss it all , including the Tollesbury to Kelvedon light railway , some ancient carriages even has a balcony , my last memory is of a loco crossing the woodrolf road, no barriers , sometimes Ash set fire to the track side trees !
I believe that I have a pretty good command of the English language but, when it comes to describing the quality of this video, words truly escape me. I cannot heap enough superlatives on this great video. It ranks with the early films of the British Transport series who, in their days were rated very highly. "Night Mail" inter alia. Superb production and editing,.Truly a modern day Classic.. Many thanks
My childhood was taken up with steam trains - fantastic!! Never really thought about feeding them though, but this videao gives us some idea about the constant shovelling done by the fireman! He must have shifted a few ton of coal just on one long journey, let alone a lifetime . . .
Glorious video, ....men at work and never seen shots of the insides of a cabin....steam pressure gouges, fire box email, the way the cabin shudders....wow.
Excellent video, like the different approach, looking more at the people, from the little excited lad, to the crew working hard to keep steam up, absolutely brilliant :)
Wonderful and fantastic steam engine working .I had travelled in the Steam Engine when I was office Super at Mechanical branch in Madurai division . The steam engine will bounce with a roaring sound .
It always struck me as odd that while the americans got Dwight D Eisenhower and the Canadians Dominion of Canada ; that the Australians and new Zealanders were never given Commonwealth of Australia and Dominion of New Zealand respectively .
A superb collection of cameos -shades of Geoffrey Jones ? (thankfully without his type of sound track...!) Excellently shot and edited. Thanks you so much. (can you feel the heat...? classic!)
Remember only 8 on the Cornish Riviera Express & those beautiful King class, got me hooked , next year to the Isle of Man for the T.T plus the bonus of their steam line , have 2 good friends there .
Nice Video I had the pleasure of cleaning this locomotive when it visited the severn valley railway. got to say it dont alf make some noise too! Mavalous machine! :)
Great vid, interesting to see the footplate side of one of these trips. I hope the little lad at the beginning enjoyed his trip as much as I enjoyed the vid.
I quite like Bittern, and the fact that she occasionally poses as lost members of the class. She is currently withdrawn for a major overhaul and it is the only A4 in Britain I have yet to see
Actually Bittern is currently at Southall waiting to haul her final Railtour on the 30th december after which she will be going to spend a year operating at the mid hants railway.
Essex Locomotive Enthusiast huh. I read the article about Bittern in the railway magazine. I know she will be doing a year at the Mid Hants railway, but she has been on the mainline for 7 years now, which means she has to be withdrawn for her boiler to be re-tubed because (as a flat rule) all locomotives have to have their boilers re-tubed every 7 years if they are on the mainline. Not wanting to sound rude, but are you sure? I could be wrong
Awesome colour and a excellent finish to the loco, concours standard. I suppose the nameplates are copies as one was somewhere in the Wellington railway station. Pity the original 4492 was cut up, at NZ is still represented in Britain by Bullied.
As a lad trainspotting i remember the A4s going through Hornsey Stn, they used to do a fair rate of knots going north and south, estimated 70mph, and they were not clean because they were working for a living, GRET VID & SOUND
Nice vid..... loved your character shots near the end. What an engine..... remembering that Silver LInk cruised for mile after mile at 105 -110 mph on her inaugural run it would be hard to keep it down to 75!!! …☁☁☁☁☁⁘⁙⁙……Hᴜɢʜ….Lɪᴋᴇᴅ…..ツ
@@PreservationEnthusiast Dude keep your mouth shut! Nobody wants to hear the negativity! Bittern is down for her second major rebuild at the moment she will be back! Check your facts before you open your mouth and type!
@@PreservationEnthusiast it has not been scrapped! The locomotive in this video is not domination of New Zealand! The Steam locomotive in this video is Bittern! She was dressed up to look like her sister locomotive she has done this before bitten is down for repairs at the present moment she will be back I repeat keep your mouth shut if you cannot say anything nice! and please check your facts before you type nobody wants to hear that negativity!
Great vid. The A4s have certainly earned their reputation in railway history but I have to confess I find the 3 independent cylinder layout sounds awkward to my ears. I'm a Western lad who's used to 4 beats per revolution of the wheel with the 1st sounding very emphatic !
no, unfortunately, mainline steam is limited to 70mph with the exception of A4 'bittern' this year to mark the 75th anniversary of mallard's 126mph run, which allowed bittern to run at 90mph
Has this train been updated with a signal warning device thingymebob? ( The yellow and black circle thing and the ringing bell ) If so, my question is, can that device make this train stop without human input? and would it do that electrically or mechanically? Thanks!
Hugh Munro yes it will stop the train if not acknowledged, one of two electrical safety systems mandatory on all main line locomotives. It works via magnets placed in the track to sound either a clear or more restrictive aspect.
I was a passed cleaner at Kings Cross in 1964-65 by which time obviously steam had gone for there. When ever you were mated up with either a senior passed fireman or driver in the junior links and the "old days" mentioned the term A4 or Streak were never used it was always when refering these locomotives "Blue un's" no matter what the colour was, Garter Blue or Brunswick Green. The Top Link drivers, also known as "lodging b*****ds" would rarely ever even acknowledge your existence, happy days
steam driven air pumps have been fitted to all three mainline registered a4s,The reason why the engine has one is because vacuum braked stock is not as widely used as it once was, so it was fitted to increase the availability of the locomotive for working charters.
SARYx141 i don't know for sure where its mounted,it could be under the tender tank.The owner has had all his mainline registered locos fitted with air brakes,you can see the airpumps on br class 7 Britannia and gwr castle nunney castle on the buffer beam,thanks for replying and merry Christmas.
SARYx141 Another example i can think of is Tornados air pumps,The engine has two in case one fails.They are both mounted between the frames under the firebox. A bit awkward to reach!!
Do you remember "The wrong type of leaves on the track excuse , these magnificent machines all weather ,am now getting fotos on the Spanish steam era, too far from me . That rocking old Chinese loco got lots of comments on its condition , but at least she still goes !
Out of All the A4s that are in Britain I have only saw 3 of them.60007 Sir Nigel Gresley,60009 Union Of South Africa and 60022 Mallard.Would love to see 60019 Bittern just to make my collection complete.
Keep Mallard as 4468... That's her TRUE identity... Yeah, exept for GWR locomotives, I hate Big 4 locomotives panted in BR decoes as it robs them of their original road numbers...
The Gresley A1s and some A3s were built as right-hand drive engines (the GNR was RHD); however, due to safety issues, these were all rebuilt to LHD, and all later A3s and the A4s were built as LHD. Hope this is useful.
One reason the A4s were never de-streamlined was that, unlike Stanier and Bullied, who basically covered up a conventional loco, Gresley designed the A4s purely as streamlined engines. If you have the chance to see photographs of them with the cladding off (photos at Doncaster works), they are pretty weird looking things. Even Thompson, with his hatred of all things Gresley, desisted from removing the A4's casings, apart from the valences below footplate level.
LOVE how the driver yanks the regulator WIDE OPEN! THIS IS WHAT THESE WERE BUILT FOR not sitting sadly in museums KEEP THEM RUNNING MAINLINE! Overhaul Mallard and GET HER RUNNING AGAIN! She doesnt want to sit and be forgotten in a dusty hall! They should have taken her to SWANAGE and on to the coast NOT Weymouth! Steam is alive in Swanage all Weymouth wanted to do was rip up the ‘quay tram lines’ they arent interested in rail heritage in any way whatsoever.😡 Wrong to have taken such a prestigious loco to such a run down place that hates heritage.😢 If they had WANTED heritage steam they would have maintained the tramway, as a ‘working line’ to bring excursions right up to the quay and or laid on a steam boat (Waverley) for cruises.🤷🏼♂️ this would bring MILLIONS of tourists back to Weymouth. STEP UP WEYMOUTH. Repair and reopen the tramway for prosperity 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🇬🇧
technically, he has to be left handed whether he likes it or not as there is a rule that i've heard countless times that the fireman should never have his back to the driver when firing.
A wide-angle lens and some continuity was wanted... the footplate video of the Duke 71000 is the most perfect footplate video created, they can't all be that good.
Superb video -to be "on hand" so to speak, was delightful. could have been a bit more interesting if we could see things , dials etc. that were working instead of highly polished wheels and valve levers. Unique study tho, a rare experience, thank you
i hate dominion of new zealand good video though i was at donny when 4492 decided to go on the slow line and that was my first expeirience of an a4 at doncaster RUBBISH!!!!!
I don't know why TH-cam took 11 years to suggest this on my home page. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great loco, great video- a belated well done.
Who else but the British could use spent steam to create the draught , every boys dream to drive a steam loco , these sure are lucky experts , for a pack of ciggies for fireman& driver from my dad I boarded Mallard at King's Cross Station and tooted the whistle ,Sure she was in green livery ..Yep the ubiquitous cuppa .Do they change jobs ,,the driver has a seat . No mad drivers on the motorway weaving between cars , the Spanish have a death wish !
Truly brilliant, a great way for someone like myself who unfortunately was born way after the steam era had passed, to really get an appreciation of what wouldve been like on the footplate on mainline running in their heyday.And an A4 into the deal, personally my favourite steam train design as they look so beautiful, although the battle of britian class comes in a close second for me, being a southerner myself. Fantastic work guys.
Fantastic video, really captures the magic of the A4's from the wonder on the little lad's face to the effortless grace and pace when cruising in the 70's and the work of the crew to make it all happen. Quality loco and video, can't believe it's only attracted 5 comments!
On a little table always a pair of cups for a brew up , miss it all , including the Tollesbury to Kelvedon light railway , some ancient carriages even has a balcony , my last memory is of a loco crossing the woodrolf road, no barriers , sometimes Ash set fire to the track side trees !
I believe that I have a pretty good command of the English language but, when it comes to describing the quality of this video, words truly escape me. I cannot heap enough superlatives on this great video. It ranks with the early films of the British Transport series who, in their days were rated very highly. "Night Mail" inter alia. Superb production and editing,.Truly a modern day Classic.. Many thanks
My childhood was taken up with steam trains - fantastic!! Never really thought about feeding them though, but this videao gives us some idea about the constant shovelling done by the fireman! He must have shifted a few ton of coal just on one long journey, let alone a lifetime . . .
I’m so glad I found this video. My dad is the driver of the Loco for the majority of the run
I made the video Louise. I didn't know Bill very well. Can you post a short biography please.
Glorious video, ....men at work and never seen shots of the insides of a cabin....steam pressure gouges, fire box email, the way the cabin shudders....wow.
What a wonderful video ! I like it very much .
Excellent video, like the different approach, looking more at the people, from the little excited lad, to the crew working hard to keep steam up, absolutely brilliant :)
Wonderfull video straight into favs .Thanks for sharing .Cheers ..Andre..
Interesting video! I've subscribed!
Wonderful and fantastic steam engine working .I had travelled in the Steam Engine when I was office Super at Mechanical branch in Madurai division . The steam engine will bounce with a roaring sound .
It always struck me as odd that while the americans got Dwight D Eisenhower and the Canadians Dominion of Canada ; that the Australians and new Zealanders were never given Commonwealth of Australia and Dominion of New Zealand respectively .
I second that! What a well made and delivered video.
Another fanastic video, nice to see behind the scenes of main line running.
Very good staff. Thanks.
Wow thanks for the cab ride - not many of them on TH-cam.
2:45- a sausage butty on the footplate of an A4! what else could you want?
A superb collection of cameos -shades of Geoffrey Jones ? (thankfully without his type of sound track...!)
Excellently shot and edited.
Thanks you so much. (can you feel the heat...? classic!)
Remember only 8 on the Cornish Riviera Express & those beautiful King class, got me hooked , next year to the Isle of Man for the T.T plus the bonus of their steam line , have 2 good friends there .
Nice Video I had the pleasure of cleaning this locomotive when it visited the severn valley railway. got to say it dont alf make some noise too! Mavalous machine! :)
The beat of those 3 cylinders !
Great vid, interesting to see the footplate side of one of these trips.
I hope the little lad at the beginning enjoyed his trip as much as I enjoyed the vid.
I quite like Bittern, and the fact that she occasionally poses as lost members of the class. She is currently withdrawn for a major overhaul and it is the only A4 in Britain I have yet to see
Actually Bittern is currently at Southall waiting to haul her final Railtour on the 30th december after which she will be going to spend a year operating at the mid hants railway.
Essex Locomotive Enthusiast huh. I read the article about Bittern in the railway magazine. I know she will be doing a year at the Mid Hants railway, but she has been on the mainline for 7 years now, which means she has to be withdrawn for her boiler to be re-tubed because (as a flat rule) all locomotives have to have their boilers re-tubed every 7 years if they are on the mainline. Not wanting to sound rude, but are you sure? I could be wrong
***** you are correct. Her final tour before overhaul is today.
***** Essex Locomotive Enthusiast Both and sort of correct www.iconsofsteam.com/latest-news
There were great days when she masqueraded as 2509. I almost cried at (almost) seeing the much loved (and much missed) pioneer of the class.
Great filming, like done by a professional cameraman.
Awesome colour and a excellent finish to the loco, concours standard. I suppose the nameplates are copies as one was somewhere in the Wellington railway station. Pity the original 4492 was cut up, at NZ is still represented in Britain by Bullied.
Absolutely fantastic ! Thanks for sharing it !
As a lad trainspotting i remember the A4s going through Hornsey Stn, they used to do a fair rate of knots going north and south, estimated 70mph, and they were not clean because they were working for a living, GRET VID & SOUND
A banger sarny and steam up. Lovely.
Its connected to a valve in the air brake system, if the buzzer isn't acknowledged in 7 seconds it dumps the air pressure and stops the train.
Rubberfrog 7 seconds? Well you clearly don’t know your stuff.
Superb brings a lump to the throat!
Great stuff. Very cool old School Boys at the helm.
Nice vid..... loved your character shots near the end. What an engine..... remembering that Silver LInk cruised for mile after mile at 105 -110 mph on her inaugural run it would be hard to keep it down to 75!!! …☁☁☁☁☁⁘⁙⁙……Hᴜɢʜ….Lɪᴋᴇᴅ…..ツ
Mainline running from a different perspective Excellent.
That aws buzzer at the 3:20 mark made the driver jump. Haha.
Why isn't this on the rails anymore?! :(
Boiler certificate ran out.
It's been cut for scrap and melted down.
@@PreservationEnthusiast Dude keep your mouth shut! Nobody wants to hear the negativity! Bittern is down for her second major rebuild at the moment she will be back! Check your facts before you open your mouth and type!
@@rudycarlson8245 This has been cut up for scrap now. It was on the heritage rail website.
@@PreservationEnthusiast it has not been scrapped! The locomotive in this video is not domination of New Zealand! The Steam locomotive in this video is Bittern! She was dressed up to look like her sister locomotive she has done this before bitten is down for repairs at the present moment she will be back I repeat keep your mouth shut if you cannot say anything nice! and please check your facts before you type nobody wants to hear that negativity!
Steam is very much in place. I could imagine steam a part of Southern traction just as it was when I was a very young boy in the '60s
"The Great Man" ( Sir Nigel ) has something to be proud of
Nothing like a streak and the syncopated Gresley beat AWESOME
instablaster.
Great vid. The A4s have certainly earned their reputation in railway history but I have to confess I find the 3 independent cylinder layout sounds awkward to my ears. I'm a Western lad who's used to 4 beats per revolution of the wheel with the 1st sounding very emphatic !
no, unfortunately, mainline steam is limited to 70mph with the exception of A4 'bittern' this year to mark the 75th anniversary of mallard's 126mph run, which allowed bittern to run at 90mph
Is it just me or is Alistair Meanley of Tysley on the footplaye of Bittern.
Has this train been updated with a signal warning device thingymebob? ( The yellow and black circle thing and the ringing bell ) If so, my question is, can that device make this train stop without human input? and would it do that electrically or mechanically? Thanks!
Hugh Munro yes it will stop the train if not acknowledged, one of two electrical safety systems mandatory on all main line locomotives. It works via magnets placed in the track to sound either a clear or more restrictive aspect.
I was a passed cleaner at Kings Cross in 1964-65 by which time obviously steam had gone for there. When ever you were mated up with either a senior passed fireman or driver in the junior links and the "old days" mentioned the term A4 or Streak were never used it was always when refering these locomotives "Blue un's" no matter what the colour was, Garter Blue or Brunswick Green. The Top Link drivers, also known as "lodging b*****ds" would rarely ever even acknowledge your existence, happy days
Very good video (I never travel inside a steam locomotive)
I can't quite remember whether it was NZ or Commonwealth of Australia that gave the A4's another record - Britain's longest nameplate!!!
Have to be Oz, NZ has a 3' 6" gauge
I 'm sure NZ longer. Maybe Union of South Africa longer
I seem to remember something about a variable stroke on the drivers. Can you explain?
Are you talking about the cutoff or the valve gear?
Quick question, is that a Westinghouse air break pump I can hear? If so where is it on the engine?
steam driven air pumps have been fitted to all three mainline registered a4s,The reason why the engine has one is because vacuum braked stock is not as widely used as it once was, so it was fitted to increase the availability of the locomotive for working charters.
Ok, thanks for that, where is the pump located on the engine? Wouldnt have thought there was much room to put a pump on!
SARYx141
i don't know for sure where its mounted,it could be under the tender tank.The owner has had all his mainline registered locos fitted with air brakes,you can see the airpumps on br class 7 Britannia and gwr castle nunney castle on the buffer beam,thanks for replying and merry Christmas.
SARYx141
Another example i can think of is Tornados air pumps,The engine has two in case one fails.They are both mounted between the frames under the firebox. A bit awkward to reach!!
Ah righto, thanks a lot for your help!
Thank you the fireman in the firelight is a wonderful still photo, is the locomotive inspector a retired driver or back up?
very nice video. It is a pity that air braking excludes the wonderful sound of the vacuum ejector exhausting into the kylchap
Do you remember "The wrong type of leaves on the track excuse , these magnificent machines all weather ,am now getting fotos on the Spanish steam era, too far from me . That rocking old Chinese loco got lots of comments on its condition , but at least she still goes !
That guy at Weymouth taking a selfie and some one decides to walk behind him lol
Great to hear the panting compressor at Weymouth.
Thats her heart beating
Out of All the A4s that are in Britain I have only saw 3 of them.60007 Sir Nigel Gresley,60009 Union Of South Africa and 60022 Mallard.Would love to see 60019 Bittern just to make my collection complete.
Keep Mallard as 4468... That's her TRUE identity... Yeah, exept for GWR locomotives, I hate Big 4 locomotives panted in BR decoes as it robs them of their original road numbers...
BTW how many people were there on that footplate?
May i ask how you were lucky enough to do this?
100 mph ?
is Bittern right or left hand drive?
Left, only GWR engines are right hand.
+Alycidon Deltic thank you
Alycidon Deltic not quite right there are other right hand drive engines, I.e. The NER Q6
Thanks for the correction, didn't know that.
The Gresley A1s and some A3s were built as right-hand drive engines (the GNR was RHD); however, due to safety issues, these were all rebuilt to LHD, and all later A3s and the A4s were built as LHD. Hope this is useful.
How often fo they shovel coal into the tender
it depends upon how much coal is shovelled at time. About 4 to 6 shovels full every 2 to 3 minutes.
Not so often after the water is hot. A couple of lumps of coal even so often to keep the pressure stable
I wonder what she would look like without that gorgeous shroud…
I think the Flying Scotsman had an A4 boiler for years, so maybe not that differents from its' predecessors....
One reason the A4s were never de-streamlined was that, unlike Stanier and Bullied, who basically covered up a conventional loco, Gresley designed the A4s purely as streamlined engines. If you have the chance to see photographs of them with the cladding off (photos at Doncaster works), they are pretty weird looking things. Even Thompson, with his hatred of all things Gresley, desisted from removing the A4's casings, apart from the valences below footplate level.
NIce "artsy" first few minutes.
Paul Lubliner
yeeeehooo look at'er go
The first 852 07570776119, 2
My t fine. Thanks
wonderful. they don't make them like that anymore.
4492 is golden eagle
wrong Golden Eagle is 4482
Locomotiva da sogno! By Foggia(Italy)
I always think the number 2 looks weird on this loco.
Gill Sans Serif font… As used on A4 nameplates also...
Can you say "Tornado"? XP
LOVE how the driver yanks the regulator WIDE OPEN! THIS IS WHAT THESE WERE BUILT FOR not sitting sadly in museums KEEP THEM RUNNING MAINLINE! Overhaul Mallard and GET HER RUNNING AGAIN! She doesnt want to sit and be forgotten in a dusty hall!
They should have taken her to SWANAGE and on to the coast NOT Weymouth! Steam is alive in Swanage all Weymouth wanted to do was rip up the ‘quay tram lines’ they arent interested in rail heritage in any way whatsoever.😡 Wrong to have taken such a prestigious loco to such a run down place that hates heritage.😢 If they had WANTED heritage steam they would have maintained the tramway, as a ‘working line’ to bring excursions right up to the quay and or laid on a steam boat (Waverley) for cruises.🤷🏼♂️ this would bring MILLIONS of tourists back to Weymouth. STEP UP WEYMOUTH. Repair and reopen the tramway for prosperity 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🇬🇧
technically, he has to be left handed whether he likes it or not as there is a rule that i've heard countless times that the fireman should never have his back to the driver when firing.
Not one word of explanation, what a shame.
A wide-angle lens and some continuity was wanted... the footplate video of the Duke 71000 is the most perfect footplate video created, they can't all be that good.
Superb video -to be "on hand" so to speak, was delightful. could have been a bit more interesting if we could see things , dials etc. that were working instead of highly polished wheels and valve levers. Unique study tho, a rare experience, thank you
i hate dominion of new zealand good video though i was at donny when 4492 decided to go on the slow line and that was my first expeirience of an a4 at doncaster RUBBISH!!!!!
Kiwi's probably don't like you
How do you know the right moment to put coal?