Mallard 75 - the Great Gathering at York 15/07/13
Posted on: 16/07/13
Updated on: 17/07/13
Updated on: 17/07/13
'A once in a life time opportunity'. A very apt phrase to apply to this very special event which brought all six surviving examples of Sir Nigel Gresley's 'A4' 'Pacifics' together in the National Railway Museum at York to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mallard's record breaking run on 3rd July 1938.
It was a very well attended event but it was particularly pleasing to see how the gathering and the anniversary had caught the interest of people who wouldn't class themselves as railway enthusiasts as well as toward the end of the day some school children being taken round by parents or grandparents. |
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Trans-Atlantic visitors
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For many, there were two 'A4's they especially wanted to see; No:60008 'Dwight D Eisenhower' and No:4489 'Dominion of Canada' as they have been temporarily repatriated for the event from The National Railroad Museum in Wisconsin, USA and Exporail, the Canadian National Railway Museum in Montreal, respectively.
Visitors could go in the cabs of all 6 'A4' - if they were prepared to queue - and, in many, enjoy very good talks about the loco. I 'cabbed' No:60008 and No:4464 'Bittern'. The visit to the latter was especially interesting as the talk was given by 'Bittern's chief engineer who explained about the modern gadgets that allow it to run on the mainline and about how its air brakes worked. |
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Photo call
With the crowds and the constraints of the Great Hall, it was a little difficult to get a good photo of all 6 locos together, but the museum had opened the turntable itself to the public to give a good spot for photos and toward the end of the day, as the Great Hall emptied slightly, staff did well encouraging people to go onto the turntable to take their photos making for a mostly unobstructed view.
For the most part the event was very civilised and, personally, the people in some of my photos actually add something to them (like that on the left) rather than detracting from them. I can empathise with the minority of photographers who felt the need to shout at people getting in the way of their shot for the 401th time, but experiences like those could put those on the receiving end off attending similar events. For me it was great to see so many people enjoying what was really rather an 'anoraky' event - the line up of six engines from the same class. In any case, those who really badly wanted photos with no one in them ought to have stumped up the £15 to pay for special early morning access for photographers.
For the most part the event was very civilised and, personally, the people in some of my photos actually add something to them (like that on the left) rather than detracting from them. I can empathise with the minority of photographers who felt the need to shout at people getting in the way of their shot for the 401th time, but experiences like those could put those on the receiving end off attending similar events. For me it was great to see so many people enjoying what was really rather an 'anoraky' event - the line up of six engines from the same class. In any case, those who really badly wanted photos with no one in them ought to have stumped up the £15 to pay for special early morning access for photographers.
Conclusions
Overall, a very special, very memorable event to celebrate a very special anniversary that was well worth the cost of borrowing the North American pair for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Thank you to Steve Davis, former head of the NRMs whose idea it was, all the staff at the museum on the day, the owners of all the A4s for bringing them to take part and all those behind the scenes that made the Great Gathering really great!
Thank you to Steve Davis, former head of the NRMs whose idea it was, all the staff at the museum on the day, the owners of all the A4s for bringing them to take part and all those behind the scenes that made the Great Gathering really great!
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