Mallard anniversary: Steam locomotive Bittern marks record run

Mallard anniversary: Steam locomotive Bittern marks record run

This coming Wednesday, the 3rd of July, sees the 75th anniversary of a landmark event in steam locomotion - the world record-breaking 126mph run of the streamlined A4 Pacific steam locomotive Mallard.  On that date in 1938 this beautiful engine left London Kings Cross for Grantham in Lincolnshire, without fanfare, ostensibly for a braking test run.  However during the return journey, on a section of track just south of Grantham, Mallard topped out at a remarkable 126 miles per hour (203kph).  No other steam-powered locomotive has exceeded that speed since and so to this very day Mallard still holds the World Speed Record for steam.  Alas, although it has since been restored and has pride of place at the National Railway Museum in York, it can no longer move under its own power.



However, to commemorate this long-standing achievement, one of Mallard's sister engines - Bittern - was yesterday permitted to exceed the usual 75mph limit for steam trains on a British main line while undertaking a special London-York jaunt, "The Ebor Streak".  Its highest speed was recorded at 92.8mph (149kph), allowing the passengers (and the rest of us, thanks to footage of the event) the chance to experience high speed steam travel - even if it was still 30mph slower than that day three-quarters of a century ago.  Gad, wouldn't I like to have been on that train all the same!



Mallard steam locomotive to return to Grantham

This special run is just one of a series of events planned to commemorate Mallard's record, with further derestricted journeys by Bittern on the 19th ("The Tyne-Tees Streak) and 27th ("The Capital Streak") of July.  The highlight of the celebrations (if 90 mile-an-hour steam trains aren't highlight enough for you!) will be the gathering at the NRM in York of the six surviving A4 Pacific engines (from the original 35) - Mallard, Bittern, Sir Nigel Gresley, Union of South Africa, Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first time all of them will have been seen together!  (Four of them can be seen here in this film from 2008).  Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower have even been specially shipped over from the Canadian Railway Museum in Montreal and the National Railroad Museum in Wisconsin, respectively, to be restored and take part in it all!

Much work has been done to make the marking of this anniversary a rightly special one and the list of events looks truly spectacular.  I'll look forward to seeing more footage of the high speed runs and the six A4s over the next month or so and will maybe feature them on here again (if I can overcome the disappointment of not being there in person!).  All in all, some stunning celebrations for a truly stunning piece of British engineering.

Norfolk's magnificent autogyro specialist has sights on new record

Norfolk's magnificent autogyro specialist has sights on new record

A fantastic article about an amazing man and the equally amazing machines that he flies. Wing Commander Wallis sounds every inch the plucky British aviator and the fact that he is 94 years old and still flying - and what's more, keen to break the autogyro speed record - is a wonderful testament to the man and his life in the air. His past history and experiences sound incredible and I shall now seek out his biography forthwith. I wish him every success in his attempt on the 4th of July and hope he can overcome the mindless bureaucracy he's facing (the man's probably got more knowledge in his little finger than in the whole of the CAA, but that's pen-pushers for you...). I'm sure he will be successful and that the event will become yet another feather in his cap.

As to the machine, the autogyro has always held a particular fascination for me. Widely regarded as the "missing link" between aeroplanes and helicopters, I find their unique appearance and flying characteristics most interesting. Personally I much prefer the earlier pre-war designs rather than the later types (also known as gyrocopters) but generally speaking they are extraordinary machines. Here are two Youtube videos of early autogyros; the first shows their invention and refinement by the Spaniard Juan de la Cierva and the second is some wonderful recent footage of the Pitcairn PA-18, which was the American licence-built version of the Cierva autogyro.

Aircraft sets hypersonic record at six times the speed of sound

Aircraft sets hypersonic record at six times the speed of sound

Another story of mankind's continued attempts to push the boundaries of known science and technology, this time with the successful testing of the Boeing X-51A scramjet. It might not look like much at the moment, but contained within that missile-like shell is the potential future of hypersonic flight. If you thought Concorde was fast at twice the speed of sound, try and imagine something three times as fast! London to Sydney in little more than 2 hours, for example. Of course this is only the first flight of the first of its kind and we're talking years, probably decades of development before any real practical use my be arrived at. But just to read about this successful test and to know that there are people out there tirelessly working to "push the envelope", to strive for further advancements in technology and ability, is thrilling stuff. It shows that there is still so much for us to achieve and discover and that once again the human imagination seemingly knows no bounds.