Although eclipsed in the public’s imagination by engines from rival railways the LMS ‘Duchesses’ were the most powerful passenger locomotives of their time and given other circumstances might have even held the world steam speed record, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
By the mid 1930s Britain had entered a new era of optimism and progress, finally shaking off some of the financial restrictions arising from the First World War and the Great Depression. In the world of design Art Deco was all the rage; new clothing fashions proliferated and at last many more people had the money to enjoy travel.
The mood of the nation had been matched by the railways, with the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) seizing the initiative by the introduction of its stunning streamlined ‘A4’ 4-6-2s and matching ‘Silver Jubilee’ coaches between London and Scotland in 1935. The following year it was announced that a second streamlined train would come into service, which would cut the King’s Cross to Edinburgh journey to only six hours.
This second announcement seems to have propelled its great rival, the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS), into action for in November of 1936 a special test run was carried out using one of Stanier’s latest …
