A trainspotter , also known as a locospotter or gricer , is a member of a British subculture that was popularised in the 1940s. Based on the spotting of locomotives and recording of their numbers, the subculture gained a notorious reputation in British popular culture during the twentieth century.
130-474: The LNER Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognisable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard , holds the record as the world's fastest steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on
260-462: A tender coupled to it. Variations in this general design include electrically powered boilers, turbines in place of pistons, and using steam generated externally. Steam locomotives were first developed in the United Kingdom during the early 19th century and used for railway transport until the middle of the 20th century. Richard Trevithick built the first steam locomotive known to have hauled
390-635: A (newly identified) Killingworth Billy in 1816. He also constructed The Duke in 1817 for the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway , which was the first steam locomotive to work in Scotland. In 1825, Stephenson built Locomotion No. 1 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway , north-east England, which was the first public steam railway in the world. In 1829, his son Robert built in Newcastle The Rocket , which
520-448: A balance has to be struck between obtaining sufficient draught for combustion whilst giving the exhaust gases and particles sufficient time to be consumed. In the past, a strong draught could lift the fire off the grate, or cause the ejection of unburnt particles of fuel, dirt and pollution for which steam locomotives had an unenviable reputation. Moreover, the pumping action of the exhaust has the counter-effect of exerting back pressure on
650-476: A certain extent by the increased visibility of trainspotters on social media. In 2014 the National Railway Museum held an exhibition titled Trainspotting exploring the topic. Commissioned to make a video installation for the exhibition the artist Andrew Cross described trainspotting as a radical stance in modern society. The exhibition was intended to challenge the conventional stereotype built around
780-483: A crankpin on the driving wheel ( Main driver in the US) or to a crank on a driving axle. The movement of the valves in the steam chest is controlled through a set of rods and linkages called the valve gear , actuated from the driving axle or from the crankpin; the valve gear includes devices that allow reversing the engine, adjusting valve travel and the timing of the admission and exhaust events. The cut-off point determines
910-487: A deployable "water scoop" fitted under the tender or the rear water tank in the case of a large tank engine; the fireman remotely lowered the scoop into the trough, the speed of the engine forced the water up into the tank, and the scoop was raised again once it was full. Water is essential for the operation of a steam locomotive. As Swengel argued: Trainspotters in the United Kingdom The earliest evidence of
1040-429: A gauge mounted in the cab. Steam pressure can be released manually by the driver or fireman. If the pressure reaches the boiler's design working limit, a safety valve opens automatically to reduce the pressure and avoid a catastrophic accident. The exhaust steam from the engine cylinders shoots out of a nozzle pointing up the chimney in the smokebox. The steam entrains or drags the smokebox gases with it which maintains
1170-514: A group of trainspotters as they bashed the last Class 37 hauled trains before the locomotives were withdrawn. In 2016 the BBC aired a three part series called Trainspotting Live presented by Tim Dunn , Hannah Fry , Peter Snow , and Dick Strawbridge . Although, unlike other British subcultures, trainspotting has not been associated with a particular genre of music many trainspotters themselves associate their subculture with musical influences. In
1300-608: A group of trainspotters known as the Peak Army. Named after the Class 45 , the article was illustrated with an image of the group at a reunion infront of one of the locomotives whilst appearing to give Nazi salutes . In 2010 BBC News reported on a trainspotter filmed at Thurston railway station who narrowly missed being struck by an oncoming train. In 2019 the British Transport Police issued an appeal for information following
1430-494: A load over a distance at Pen-y-darren in 1804, although he produced an earlier locomotive for trial at Coalbrookdale in 1802. Salamanca , built in 1812 by Matthew Murray for the Middleton Railway , was the first commercially successful steam locomotive. Locomotion No. 1 , built by George Stephenson and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company , was the first steam locomotive to haul passengers on
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#17328515240901560-481: A lower pressure in the smokebox than that under the firebox grate. This pressure difference causes air to flow up through the coal bed and keeps the fire burning. The search for thermal efficiency greater than that of a typical fire-tube boiler led engineers, such as Nigel Gresley , to consider the water-tube boiler . Although he tested the concept on the LNER Class W1 , the difficulties during development exceeded
1690-433: A lower reciprocating mass than three, four, five or six coupled axles. They were thus able to turn at very high speeds due to the lower reciprocating mass. A trailing axle was able to support a huge firebox, hence most locomotives with the wheel arrangement of 4-4-2 (American Type Atlantic) were called free steamers and were able to maintain steam pressure regardless of throttle setting. The chassis, or locomotive frame ,
1820-404: A monologue delivered by the character Gus Gascoigne, a stereotypical trainspotter nerd. First performed in the 1990’s the play continued to be performed into the 2010’s. In 1998 it was adapted into a television film of the same name, directed by Elijah Moshinsky . ‘The Bashers’ was an episode of The Other Side documentary series which was broadcast on Channel 4 in 2000. The episode followed
1950-479: A moustache and a criminal record) and dark blue, unbranded quilted, hooded coats (one rarely saw the classic fur-lined anorak, which again, would have been too cool; we merely wore the first thing our mothers found in BHS) who took scant interest in their personal presentation, had little experience of friendship and even less experience with the opposite sex. In the twenty-first century this stereotype has been challenged to
2080-454: A non-stop service run from King's Cross to Edinburgh, setting the record for distance travelled for 408.65 miles. It would hold this record until 4472 Flying Scotsman' s visit to Australia in 1988. Improved methods of aligning the Gresley conjugated valve gear in the 1950s led to tighter tolerances for the bearings used within it and, consequently, to almost total eradication of the overloading of
2210-630: A number of Swiss steam shunting locomotives were modified to use electrically heated boilers, consuming around 480 kW of power collected from an overhead line with a pantograph . These locomotives were significantly less efficient than electric ones ; they were used because Switzerland was suffering a coal shortage because of the War, but had access to plentiful hydroelectricity . A number of tourist lines and heritage locomotives in Switzerland, Argentina and Australia have used light diesel-type oil. Water
2340-456: A number of important innovations that included using high-pressure steam which reduced the weight of the engine and increased its efficiency. Trevithick visited the Newcastle area in 1804 and had a ready audience of colliery (coal mine) owners and engineers. The visit was so successful that the colliery railways in north-east England became the leading centre for experimentation and development of
2470-455: A public railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway , in 1825. Rapid development ensued; in 1830 George Stephenson opened the first public inter-city railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , after the success of Rocket at the 1829 Rainhill Trials had proved that steam locomotives could perform such duties. Robert Stephenson and Company was the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives in
2600-459: A rigid frame with a 30% weight reduction. Generally, the largest locomotives are permanently coupled to a tender that carries the water and fuel. Often, locomotives working shorter distances do not have a tender and carry the fuel in a bunker, with the water carried in tanks placed next to the boiler. The tanks can be in various configurations, including two tanks alongside ( side tanks or pannier tanks ), one on top ( saddle tank ) or one between
2730-502: A similar video game featuring a trainspotter titled Train Tracking . Trainspotting Simulator is a game developed by Rocket Monster Games and released in 2019. In 2002 the preserved Llangollen Railway installed two digital cameras. The first of its kind in Britain the pay-per-view scheme was connected online via satellite and aimed at trainspotters. Trainspotting with Francis Bourgeois
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#17328515240902860-657: A small model. Trix produced an 'OO' scale model A4 from 1970; it was re-branded as a Liliput model in 1974 and survives to this day in modified form as a Bachmann model – Kader, Bachmann's parent company, had bought Liliput in 1993. In September 2004, Hornby unveiled retooled OO gauge models of the A4 in LNER blue, LNER black and BR green. During the 1980s, Minitrix produced British N gauge models of Mallard , both as 4468 in LNER blue and 60022 in BR green, and 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley in LNER blue. From
2990-739: A speed of 112.5 mph (181.1 km/h), breaking the British speed record and sustained an average of 100 mph (160.9 km/h), over a distance of 43 miles (69.2 km). Following the commercial success of the Silver Jubilee train, other streamlined services were introduced: The Coronation (London-Edinburgh, July 1937) and the West Riding Limited (Bradford & Leeds-London & return, November 1937) for which more A4s were built. The A4 Pacifics were designed for high-speed passenger services. The application of internal streamlining to
3120-454: 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 (4488–92) were named after British Empire countries to haul the new Anglo-Scottish Coronation train; and two (4495/6), intended to haul
3250-401: A tank in the locomotive tender or wrapped around the boiler in the case of a tank locomotive . Periodic stops are required to refill the tanks; an alternative was a scoop installed under the tender that collected water as the train passed over a track pan located between the rails. While the locomotive is producing steam, the amount of water in the boiler is constantly monitored by looking at
3380-503: A teenage girl named Fanny Johnson. In 1861 Johnson is known to have been keeping records of GWR locomotives she had spotted in London. Prior to the 1930’s, publications produced for railway enthusiasts were marketed at both genders, with young girls being described as typical readers of such material. In the late-1930’s at least one group of female trainspotters were known to congregate at New Southgate during school holidays. The figure of
3510-451: A trainspotter in the late 1980s as "like herpes, with none of the physical blemishes, but with all the social rejection". He goes on to describe the typical stereotype of a trainspotter that developed after the 1960s: Trainspotting became the preserve of boys and men in bad spectacles (not so much National Health—too cool for us—but rather the kind of rounded square metal frames that you imagine going quite well with tinted yellow lenses and
3640-601: A trainspotter. Song of Experience , first aired in 1986, was a stand-alone film produced as part of the BBC’s Screen Two drama series. Written by Martin Allen and directed by Stephen Frears the play was a coming-of-age drama depicting a day in the life of three trainspotters. In the early 1990s the BBC2 comedy show Harry Enfield & Chums included a sketch involving a trio of trainspotters which incorporated stereotypes of
3770-455: A trespass incident involving trainspotters attempting to view Flying Scotsman . Despite its decline since the late twentieth-century trainspotting increased in popularity during the early 2020’s. According to statistics produced by Google the subculture received increased interest following the COVID-19 pandemic . While the increased popularity of the subculture has been largely attributed to
3900-533: A unified numbering system that favoured the collecting of locomotive numbers. During the post-war period trainspotters became subject to a moral panic in the British press. Following occurrences of trespass by trainspotters at Tamworth railway station in 1944 the press began to regularly print alarmist reports on the subculture. In response to this moral panic British Railways began to ban trainspotters from their stations and laws were passed in order to deal with problematic behaviour. The Ian Allan Locospotters Club
4030-400: Is 75 mph.). During the "Tyne Tees Streak" 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, Union of South Africa was the only A4 operational with a valid mainline certificate until it expired in 2020; 60007 was withdrawn for overhaul on 20 September 2015 and 4464 operated until
LNER Class A4 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4160-457: Is a digital series released by Channel 4 on YouTube in 2022. The series featured the trainspotter Francis Bourgeois alongside various celebrities including Aisling Bea , Jesse Lingard and Sam Ryder . In 1980 the BBC first broadcast the railway documentary Great Railway Journeys: Confessions of a Train Spotter . The programme title was premised on presenter Michael Palin ’s childhood as
4290-475: Is crucial to the efficiency of any steam locomotive, and the internal profiles of the chimney (or, strictly speaking, the ejector ) require careful design and adjustment. This has been the object of intensive studies by a number of engineers (and often ignored by others, sometimes with catastrophic consequences). The fact that the draught depends on the exhaust pressure means that power delivery and power generation are automatically self-adjusting. Among other things,
4420-419: Is directed upwards out of the locomotive through the chimney, by way of a nozzle called a blastpipe , creating the familiar "chuffing" sound of the steam locomotive. The blastpipe is placed at a strategic point inside the smokebox that is at the same time traversed by the combustion gases drawn through the boiler and grate by the action of the steam blast. The combining of the two streams, steam and exhaust gases,
4550-598: Is often regarded as being formed by a Southern Railway employee, Ian Allan , who in 1942 published the ABC of Southern Locomotives . Allan’s publication found a ready market reaching its seventh edition before the close of WWII, indeed so successful was his enterprise that the News Chronicle reported that he was regularly mobbed by young female and male trainspotters for his autograph. Trainspotters often congregated on stations platforms and adjacent to favoured railway lines. In
4680-589: Is that Gresley and the LNER had just one serious attempt at the record, which was far from a perfect run with a 15 mph permanent way check just north of Grantham; despite this a record was set. Gresley planned another attempt in September 1939, but was prevented by the outbreak of World War II. Prior to the record run on 3 July 1938, it was calculated that 130 mph (210 km/h) was possible; Driver Duddington and LNER Inspector Sid Jenkins both said they might well have achieved this figure had they not had to slow for
4810-415: Is the principal structure onto which the boiler is mounted and which incorporates the various elements of the running gear. The boiler is rigidly mounted on a "saddle" beneath the smokebox and in front of the boiler barrel, but the firebox at the rear is allowed to slide forward and backwards, to allow for expansion when hot. European locomotives usually use "plate frames", where two vertical flat plates form
4940-874: The Drache , was delivered in 1848. The first steam locomotives operating in Italy were the Bayard and the Vesuvio , running on the Napoli-Portici line, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The first railway line over Swiss territory was the Strasbourg – Basel line opened in 1844. Three years later, in 1847, the first fully Swiss railway line, the Spanisch Brötli Bahn , from Zürich to Baden
5070-580: The East Coast Main Line route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle , and later via Newcastle to Edinburgh , Scotland . They remained in service on the East Coast Main Line until the early 1960s when they were replaced by Deltic diesel locomotives; they themselves proving to be worthy successors to the A4s. Several A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on
5200-574: The Ohio Historical Society Museum in Columbus, US. The authenticity and date of this locomotive is disputed by some experts and a workable steam train would have to await the invention of the high-pressure steam engine by Richard Trevithick , who pioneered the use of steam locomotives. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was the 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge Coalbrookdale Locomotive built by Trevithick in 1802. It
5330-449: The middle-classes who had often taken an interest in railways prior to WWII. By the mid-1950s the subculture had once again started to become more middle-class but continued to retain vestiges of its working-class identity into the late twentieth-century. The use of the term trainspotter first emerged in the UK in the mid-1940s and, despite being a misnomer, was quickly embraced by some within
LNER Class A4 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5460-455: The 1950s a trainspotting platform was erected adjacent to the main line in Finsbury Park to accommodate the volume of trainspotters who gathered there. Other methods were also developed in order to collect locomotive numbers. 'Shed-bashing' was an activity in which trainspotters would aim to visit as many engine sheds in a given period of time as possible. This may have been undertaken without
5590-523: The 1980s involving racial apartheid the engine was renamed to Osprey. It returned to its original name in the 1990s. Worked Inaugural mainline railtour on 21 May 2022. One of the first two Hornby Dublo locomotive models produced, in 1938, was an A4. In 1999 a 'Super Detail' Hornby A4 was released, later complemented by a budget 'Railroad' model Hornby also produced an 'OO'-scale live steam version in September 2003, that used an electrically heated boiler to produce steam – not previously possible in such
5720-428: The 1990s, Graham Farish produced British N gauge models of the A4. In 2012, Dapol introduced a British N gauge model of 60017 Silver Fox in BR green. Steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam . It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal , oil or, rarely, wood ) to heat water in
5850-478: The A4s. Instances of 100 mph running by them must exceed those of all other types combined, though 90 mph running was a relatively rare event with steam traction, much less 100 mph. It should also be remembered that A4s operated on the East Coast Main Line which has more opportunities for high speed running (particularly Stoke Bank) than any other in the UK. In August 1936 the Silver Jubilee train on
5980-694: The Aberdeen – Glasgow express trains, for which they were used to improve the timing from 3.5 to 3 hours. Gresley introduced the Class A4 locomotives in 1935 to haul streamlined Silver Jubilee trains between London King's Cross and Newcastle . The service was named in celebration of the 25th year of King George V 's reign. During a visit to Germany in 1933, Gresley had been inspired by high-speed streamlined Flying Hamburger diesel trains. The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) had considered purchasing similar trains for use from London to Newcastle but
6110-543: The Essendine junctions. At the end of Mallard' s record run, the middle big end (part of the motion for the inside cylinder) ran hot (indicated by the bursting of a heat-sensitive "stink bomb" placed in the bearing for warning purposes), the bearing metal had melted and the locomotive had to stop at Peterborough rather than continue to London. Deficiencies in the alignment of the Gresley-Holcroft derived motion meant that
6240-565: The National Railway Museum, York , in late 2012 on three-year loans as part of the NRM's 2013 celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Mallard breaking the world speed record for steam, bringing all six preserved A4s together. During 2013, 4464 'Bittern' underwent a series of high-speed runs, partly in commemoration of Mallards' record, partly to see if mainline speeds for certain heritage steam locomotives could be increased (The current maximum
6370-564: The Saar (today part of Völklingen ), but neither could be returned to working order after being dismantled, moved and reassembled. On 7 December 1835, the Adler ran for the first time between Nuremberg and Fürth on the Bavarian Ludwig Railway . It was the 118th engine from the locomotive works of Robert Stephenson and stood under patent protection. In Russia , the first steam locomotive
6500-423: The US), or screw-reverser (if so equipped), that controls the cut-off, therefore, performs a similar function to a gearshift in an automobile – maximum cut-off, providing maximum tractive effort at the expense of efficiency, is used to pull away from a standing start, whilst a cut-off as low as 10% is used when cruising, providing reduced tractive effort, and therefore lower fuel/water consumption. Exhaust steam
6630-655: The United States, including John Fitch's miniature prototype. A prominent full sized example was Col. John Steven's "steam wagon" which was demonstrated on a loop of track in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1825. Many of the earliest locomotives for commercial use on American railroads were imported from Great Britain, including first the Stourbridge Lion and later the John Bull . However, a domestic locomotive-manufacturing industry
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#17328515240906760-495: The adhesive weight. Equalising beams connecting the ends of leaf springs have often been deemed a complication in Britain, however, locomotives fitted with the beams have usually been less prone to loss of traction due to wheel-slip. Suspension using equalizing levers between driving axles, and between driving axles and trucks, was standard practice on North American locomotives to maintain even wheel loads when operating on uneven track. Locomotives with total adhesion, where all of
6890-402: The boiler materials to the point where it needs to be rebuilt or replaced. Start-up on a large engine may take hours of preliminary heating of the boiler water before sufficient steam is available. Although the boiler is typically placed horizontally, for locomotives designed to work in locations with steep slopes it may be more appropriate to consider a vertical boiler or one mounted such that
7020-404: The boiler remains horizontal but the wheels are inclined to suit the slope of the rails. The steam generated in the boiler fills the space above the water in the partially filled boiler. Its maximum working pressure is limited by spring-loaded safety valves. It is then collected either in a perforated tube fitted above the water level or by a dome that often houses the regulator valve, or throttle,
7150-399: The boiler. Boiler water surrounds the firebox to stop the metal from becoming too hot. This is another area where the gas transfers heat to the water and is called the firebox heating surface. Ash and char collect in the smokebox as the gas gets drawn up the chimney ( stack or smokestack in the US) by the exhaust steam from the cylinders. The pressure in the boiler has to be monitored using
7280-566: The class (4901 Capercaillie , 4902 Seagull and 4903 Peregrine ) were fitted with the Kylchap exhaust from new and the rest of the class acquired it in the late 1950s. The class was noted for its streamlined design, which not only improved its aerodynamics, increasing its speed capabilities, but also created an updraught to lift smoke away from the driver's line of vision, a problem inherent in many steam locomotives particularly those operated with short cut off valve events; fitting smoke deflectors
7410-400: 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 . 60019 and 60024 were the last to be withdrawn in September 1966. Six of the locomotives have been preserved; three of them were assigned to sheds in Scotland after
7540-497: The closure of King's Cross shed (34A) to steam in 1964. Four A4s are in the UK and have run on the BR main lines at some point during their preservation career. Another two ( Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower ) were donated to the Canada and the US, respectively, upon withdrawal by British Railways. Both North American-based A4s, along with the other three British-based A4s were moved to
7670-665: The descent of Stoke Bank headed by 2512 Silver Fox driven by George Henry Haygreen achieved a maximum of 113 mph (181.9 km/h), then the highest speed attained in Britain with an ordinary passenger train. The fastest recorded post-war speed with British steam was also recorded by an A4. This occurred on 23 May 1959 on the Stephenson Locomotive Society Golden Jubilee special when 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley achieved 112 mph when hauling 400 tons down Stoke Bank. The driver, Bill Hoole, had hoped for an attempt to beat Mallard's record but Alan Pegler , who
7800-406: The diesel units of the time did not have sufficient passenger carrying capacity and the capital investment in the new technology was prohibitive. Gresley was sure that steam could do equally well with a decent fare-paying load behind the locomotive. Following trials in 1935 in which one of his A3 Pacifics , No. 2750 Papyrus , recorded a new maximum of 108 mph (173.8 km/h) and completed
7930-675: The dominant fuel worldwide in steam locomotives. Railways serving sugar cane farming operations burned bagasse , a byproduct of sugar refining. In the US, the ready availability and low price of oil made it a popular steam locomotive fuel after 1900 for the southwestern railroads, particularly the Southern Pacific. In the Australian state of Victoria, many steam locomotives were converted to heavy oil firing after World War II. German, Russian, Australian and British railways experimented with using coal dust to fire locomotives. During World War 2,
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#17328515240908060-685: The dynamometer roll (currently at the NRM) of the record run confirms that Mallard' s speed did in fact exceed that of the German BR ;05 002 . The Mallard record reached its maximum speed on a downhill run and failed technically in due course, whereas 05 002's journey was on level grade and the engine did not yet seem to be at its limit. On the other hand, the German train was four coaches long (197 tons), but Mallard's train had seven coaches (240 tons). One fact, often ignored when considering rival claims,
8190-576: The end of 2015 at the Watercress Line when it was withdrawn and placed on static display in 2018 Crewe . Union of South Africa was withdrawn in October 2021 due to boiler issues and with the coming expiration of its boiler certificate in early 2022. Sir Nigel Gresley returned to the mainline on 21 April 2022 and worked its inaugural railtour on 21 May 2022 following the completion of its major overhaul. As of 2023, 5 of 6 surviving A4's are on static display,
8320-431: The exhaust gas volume was vented through a cooling tower, allowing the steam exhaust to draw more air past the radiator. Running gear includes the brake gear, wheel sets , axleboxes , springing and the motion that includes connecting rods and valve gear. The transmission of the power from the pistons to the rails and the behaviour of the locomotive as a vehicle, being able to negotiate curves, points and irregularities in
8450-533: The existence of trainspotting has been dated to the 1840s. Between 1841-7 the Victorian Colonel James Pennyman noted details about trains running on the Great North of England Railway , although the first person believed to have noted solely locomotive names and numbers was Fanny Johnson in 1861. Before the outbreak of World War II the practice of noting locomotive numbers as a leisure activity
8580-448: The firebox becomes exposed. Without water on top of the sheet to transfer away the heat of combustion , it softens and fails, letting high-pressure steam into the firebox and the cab. The development of the fusible plug , a temperature-sensitive device, ensured a controlled venting of steam into the firebox to warn the fireman to add water. Scale builds up in the boiler and prevents adequate heat transfer, and corrosion eventually degrades
8710-552: The first decades of steam for railways in the United Kingdom, the United States, and much of Europe. Towards the end of the steam era, a longstanding British emphasis on speed culminated in a record, still unbroken, of 126 miles per hour (203 kilometres per hour) by LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard , however there are long-standing claims that the Pennsylvania Railroad class S1 achieved speeds upwards of 150 mph, though this
8840-512: The first of the class to enter service with the Kylchap exhaust - pulling six coaches and a dynamometer car , set a world speed record (indicated by the dynamometer ) of 126 mph (202.8 km/h). Gresley never accepted it as the record-breaking maximum. He claimed this speed could only have been attained over a few yards, though he was comfortable that the German speed record of 124.5 mph (200.4 km/h) had been surpassed. Close analysis of
8970-459: The frames ( well tank ). The fuel used depended on what was economically available to the railway. In the UK and other parts of Europe, plentiful supplies of coal made this the obvious choice from the earliest days of the steam engine. Until 1870, the majority of locomotives in the United States burned wood, but as the Eastern forests were cleared, coal gradually became more widely used until it became
9100-418: The grate into an ashpan. If oil is used as the fuel, a door is needed for adjusting the air flow, maintaining the firebox, and cleaning the oil jets. The fire-tube boiler has internal tubes connecting the firebox to the smokebox through which the combustion gases flow transferring heat to the water. All the tubes together provide a large contact area, called the tube heating surface, between the gas and water in
9230-577: The highly mineralised water was available, and locomotive boilers were lasting less than a quarter of the time normally expected. In the days of steam locomotion, about half the total train load was water for the engine. The line's operator, Commonwealth Railways , was an early adopter of the diesel-electric locomotive . The fire-tube boiler was standard practice for steam locomotive. Although other types of boiler were evaluated they were not widely used, except for some 1,000 locomotives in Hungary which used
9360-426: The influence of TikTok star Francis Bourgeois other societal factors have also been seen to have played a role. The renewed interest in trainspotting has led to the suggestion of a process of commodification of the subculture. The class composition of trainspotting has changed over time. The author Nicholas Whittaker has asserted that the post-war trainspotter was typically a working-class youth in contrast to
9490-413: The inside cylinder of the A4 did more work at high speed than the two outside cylinders – on at least one occasion this led to the middle big end wearing to such an extent that the increased piston travel knocked the ends off the middle cylinder – and this overloading was mostly responsible for the failure. No other British steam locomotives have a longer or more consistent record of high speed running than
9620-460: The journey in under four hours, the LNER's Chief General Manager Ralph Wedgwood authorised Gresley to produce a streamlined development of the A3. Initially four locomotives were built, all with the word 'silver' in their names. The first was 2509 Silver Link , followed by 2510 Quicksilver , 2511 Silver King and 2512 Silver Fox . During a press run to publicise the service, Silver Link twice achieved
9750-452: The late 1930s. The majority of steam locomotives were retired from regular service by the 1980s, although several continue to run on tourist and heritage lines. The earliest railways employed horses to draw carts along rail tracks . In 1784, William Murdoch , a Scottish inventor, built a small-scale prototype of a steam road locomotive in Birmingham . A full-scale rail steam locomotive
9880-431: The latter half of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries saw a steady reduction in the number of trainspotters in Britain, as evidenced by the fall both in sales of publications targeted at them and club memberships. The decline of the subculture during this period has been attributed to various factors including the end of steam, the move away from locomotive hauled trains, improved health and safety on
10010-657: The locomotive ran on a circular track in the factory yard. It was the first locomotive to be built on the European mainland and the first steam-powered passenger service; curious onlookers could ride in the attached coaches for a fee. It is portrayed on a New Year's badge for the Royal Foundry dated 1816. Another locomotive was built using the same system in 1817. They were to be used on pit railways in Königshütte and in Luisenthal on
10140-421: The locomotive's boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its cylinders in which pistons are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels. Fuel and water supplies are usually carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in
10270-403: The main chassis, with a variety of spacers and a buffer beam at each end to form a rigid structure. When inside cylinders are mounted between the frames, the plate frames are a single large casting that forms a major support element. The axleboxes slide up and down to give some sprung suspension, against thickened webs attached to the frame, called "hornblocks". American practice for many years
10400-509: The mainframes. Locomotives with multiple coupled-wheels on a rigid chassis would have unacceptable flange forces on tight curves giving excessive flange and rail wear, track spreading and wheel climb derailments. One solution was to remove or thin the flanges on an axle. More common was to give axles end-play and use lateral motion control with spring or inclined-plane gravity devices. Railroads generally preferred locomotives with fewer axles, to reduce maintenance costs. The number of axles required
10530-620: The male trainspotter has been deconstructed as an expression of fragile masculinity current in late twentieth-century British society. In the twenty-first century female trainspotters have reported facing sexism within the subculture, and a continued gender disparity has been attributed to hostility online. The British poet Patience Agbabi has described herself as a trainspotter, and has included themes around trainspotting in her work. After steam had been withdrawn on British Railways in 1968 trainspotters often travelled abroad to spot steam locomotives still in service. Popular destinations included
10660-627: The middle cylinder. History repeated itself with the inside big end being replaced by one of the Great Western type, after which there was no more trouble, provided that maintenance routines were respected. The wholesale application of double Kylchap chimneys to the entire class was entirely due to the persistence of P. N. Townend, the Assistant Motive Power Superintendent at King's Cross from 1956. He, at first, met with considerable resistance from higher authority. When permission
10790-470: The moment when the valve blocks a steam port, "cutting off" admission steam and thus determining the proportion of the stroke during which steam is admitted into the cylinder; for example a 50% cut-off admits steam for half the stroke of the piston. The remainder of the stroke is driven by the expansive force of the steam. Careful use of cut-off provides economical use of steam and in turn, reduces fuel and water consumption. The reversing lever ( Johnson bar in
10920-438: 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 named after him. Subsequently, some other A4s were later renamed, usually to names of directors of the LNER. One locomotive was withdrawn and scrapped after being damaged beyond repair in a German bombing raid on York on 29 April 1942 during World War II ; this
11050-644: The only working one being 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley. 60019 is planned to be moved from Margate to North Yorkshire for a mainline standard overhaul in 2024. Loco numbers in bold mean their current number. Currently in LNER Garter Blue livery and static display at the former Hornby factory in Margate, Kent. Planned to be moved to North Yorkshire for overhaul in 2024. Was operational between 1986 and 1988. Due to controversial and political issues in South Africa in
11180-769: The original John Bull was on static display in the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The replica is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania . The first railway service outside the United Kingdom and North America was opened in 1829 in France between Saint-Etienne and Lyon ; it was initially limited to animal traction and converted to steam traction early 1831, using Seguin locomotives . The first steam locomotive in service in Europe outside of France
11310-519: The period. Towards the end of the century a new genre of historical autobiography focusing on the trainspotter emerged often presenting the subculture in a nostalgic light as a product of an idealised British past. In 1975 the BBC broadcast a short documentary in which the journalist John Stapleton investigated the state of trainspotting in the post-steam era. He concluded that the subculture remained popular attracting children and adults alike. However,
11440-468: The piston in turn. In a two-cylinder locomotive, one cylinder is located on each side of the vehicle. The cranks are set 90° out of phase. During a full rotation of the driving wheel, steam provides four power strokes; each cylinder receives two injections of steam per revolution. The first stroke is to the front of the piston and the second stroke to the rear of the piston; hence two working strokes. Consequently, two deliveries of steam onto each piston face in
11570-411: The purpose of which is to control the amount of steam leaving the boiler. The steam then either travels directly along and down a steam pipe to the engine unit or may first pass into the wet header of a superheater , the role of the latter being to improve thermal efficiency and eliminate water droplets suspended in the "saturated steam", the state in which it leaves the boiler. On leaving the superheater,
11700-684: The railways of central and Eastern European countries such as the DR , PKP , as well as the Indian Railways . British trainspotters who emigrated to West Germany as gastarbeiter in the late 1970s were known to travel to East Germany to spot steam locomotives which continued to operate there. In the 1990s France became a particularly popular destination for British trainspotters along with other countries in Western Europe and Scandinavia . Such tourists were colloquially known as ‘Eurospotters’ within
11830-405: The railways, and even terrorism . In the wake of terrorist attacks in the UK, trainspotters reported being targeted by Network Rail at the start of the century. In response a 2003 edition of the magazine Railways Illustrated published a list of stations where trainspotters had been banned. In 2008 The Mail on Sunday carried an article detailing alleged violent and drunken behaviour by
11960-418: The side of the piston receiving steam, thus slightly reducing cylinder power. Designing the exhaust ejector became a specific science, with engineers such as Chapelon , Giesl and Porta making large improvements in thermal efficiency and a significant reduction in maintenance time and pollution. A similar system was used by some early gasoline/kerosene tractor manufacturers ( Advance-Rumely / Hart-Parr ) –
12090-469: The steam circuit, higher boiler pressure and the extension of the firebox to form a combustion chamber all contributed to a more efficient locomotive than the A3; consumption of coal and water were reduced. A further design improvement was fitting a Kylchap double-chimney, first on 4468 Mallard in March 1938. The double-chimney improved the capability of the locomotives further, and the last three locomotives of
12220-504: The steam exits the dry header of the superheater and passes down a steam pipe, entering the steam chests adjacent to the cylinders of a reciprocating engine. Inside each steam chest is a sliding valve that distributes the steam via ports that connect the steam chest to the ends of the cylinder space. The role of the valves is twofold: admission of each fresh dose of steam, and exhaust of the used steam once it has done its work. The cylinders are double-acting, with steam admitted to each side of
12350-469: The steam locomotive. Trevithick continued his own steam propulsion experiments through another trio of locomotives, concluding with the Catch Me Who Can in 1808, first in the world to haul fare-paying passengers. In 1812, Matthew Murray 's successful twin-cylinder rack locomotive Salamanca first ran on the edge-railed rack-and-pinion Middleton Railway . Another well-known early locomotive
12480-557: The subculture and included work by the poet Ian Macmillan . Trainspotting was the title of a fan-produced game programmed for the Comx-35 . In 1995 the software company Sensible Software released a video game called Sensible Train Spotting for the Amiga computer. The game featured a character dressed in an anorak spotting trains from a platform bench. In 2003 another games company released
12610-412: The subculture for humorous effect. Trainspotter was the title of a 1996 animated short film about the activities of a lone trainspotter. The film won Best Short Animated Film Edinburgh 1996 and was nominated for the 50th BAFTA Award for Best Short Animation and for Best Short Animation at the 50th British Academy Film Awards . Anorak of Fire is a play written by Stephen Dinsdale consisting of
12740-560: The subculture. The latter half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of the modern stereotype of the trainspotter. The subculture became stigmatised in popular culture with trainspotting developing into a byword for obsessive behaviour, unfashionable attire, and sexual perversion. Trainspotters became particularly associated with the anorak to the extent that the terms anorak and trainspotting have become synonymous colloquialisms for obsessive behaviour. The writer Daniel Tunnard has self deprecatingly described his experience of being
12870-499: The subculture. However others continued to hunt out remaining steam traction used by the National Coal Board , other private industrial lines, or began to travel abroad to spot steam locomotives ( see below ). Many trainspotters transferred the focus of their activities over to diesel and electric locomotives. ‘Bashing’, an activity involving riding as many miles as possible behind a particular locomotive, became popular in
13000-400: The subculture. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the term back to the word spotter which was in use in the 1890s. The synonymous term locospotter was coined by Ian Allan in the mid-1940s. Despite a stereotype developing around the trainspotter as being typically male, in 2014 research undertaken by the National Railway Museum discovered that the first recorded trainspotter was in fact
13130-449: The summit of Stoke Bank. On a run on 8 September 1961 Mallard had its train travelling at 78 mph. Although newer Pacifics had been introduced since the war and the streamlined locomotives were never reinstated, the A4s continued on top link duties, notably on the London to Edinburgh services. Even after the war was over, the A4s still continued to perform non-stop services. In August 1948, 60028 Walter K. Whigham managed to perform
13260-434: The track, is of paramount importance. Because reciprocating power has to be directly applied to the rail from 0 rpm upwards, this creates the problem of adhesion of the driving wheels to the smooth rail surface. Adhesive weight is the portion of the locomotive's weight bearing on the driving wheels. This is made more effective if a pair of driving wheels is able to make the most of its axle load, i.e. its individual share of
13390-433: The two cylinders generates a full revolution of the driving wheel. Each piston is attached to the driving axle on each side by a connecting rod, and the driving wheels are connected together by coupling rods to transmit power from the main driver to the other wheels. Note that at the two " dead centres ", when the connecting rod is on the same axis as the crankpin on the driving wheel, the connecting rod applies no torque to
13520-439: The use of official permits or through an organised railway society. Ian Allan described the heyday of trainspotting as having taken place between the mid-1950s and 1968 when the 1955 Modernisation Plan ended steam on British Railways. The popularity of trainspotting in post-war Britain has been attributed to the diversity and volume of steam locomotives operating on the network, while the formation of British Railways created
13650-401: The valve gear for maintenance and were not replaced. This apart, the A4 was one of few streamlined steam locomotive designs in the world to retain its casing throughout its existence. Many similar designs, including the contemporary Coronation Class , had their streamlining removed or cancelled to cut costs, simplify maintenance and increase driver visibility. On 3 July 1938, 4468 Mallard -
13780-419: The water level in a transparent tube, or sight glass. Efficient and safe operation of the boiler requires keeping the level in between lines marked on the sight glass. If the water level is too high, steam production falls, efficiency is lost and water is carried out with the steam into the cylinders, possibly causing mechanical damage. More seriously, if the water level gets too low, the crown sheet (top sheet) of
13910-401: The water-tube Brotan boiler . A boiler consists of a firebox where the fuel is burned, a barrel where water is turned into steam, and a smokebox which is kept at a slightly lower pressure than outside the firebox. Solid fuel, such as wood, coal or coke, is thrown into the firebox through a door by a fireman , onto a set of grates which hold the fuel in a bed as it burns. Ash falls through
14040-408: The wheel. Therefore, if both cranksets could be at "dead centre" at the same time, and the wheels should happen to stop in this position, the locomotive could not start moving. Therefore, the crankpins are attached to the wheels at a 90° angle to each other, so only one side can be at dead centre at a time. Each piston transmits power through a crosshead , connecting rod ( Main rod in the US) and
14170-411: The wheels are coupled together, generally lack stability at speed. To counter this, locomotives often fit unpowered carrying wheels mounted on two-wheeled trucks or four-wheeled bogies centred by springs/inverted rockers/geared rollers that help to guide the locomotive through curves. These usually take on weight – of the cylinders at the front or the firebox at the rear – when the width exceeds that of
14300-406: The will to increase efficiency by that route. The steam generated in the boiler not only moves the locomotive, but is also used to operate other devices such as the whistle, the air compressor for the brakes, the pump for replenishing the water in the boiler and the passenger car heating system. The constant demand for steam requires a periodic replacement of water in the boiler. The water is kept in
14430-844: The world also runs in Austria: the GKB 671 built in 1860, has never been taken out of service, and is still used for special excursions. In 1838, the third steam locomotive to be built in Germany, the Saxonia , was manufactured by the Maschinenbaufirma Übigau near Dresden , built by Prof. Johann Andreas Schubert . The first independently designed locomotive in Germany was the Beuth , built by August Borsig in 1841. The first locomotive produced by Henschel-Werke in Kassel ,
14560-548: Was Puffing Billy , built 1813–14 by engineer William Hedley . It was intended to work on the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne. This locomotive is the oldest preserved, and is on static display at the Science Museum, London . George Stephenson , a former miner working as an engine-wright at Killingworth Colliery , developed up to sixteen Killingworth locomotives , including Blücher in 1814, another in 1815, and
14690-614: Was No. 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood , which at the time had been overhauled and was based at Gateshead. It was running local trains to run it in and was stabled in York North Shed (now the National Railway Museum ) where it suffered a direct hit; however, its tender survived and was later coupled to a Thompson A2/1 . The next five withdrawals, in December 1962, were: 60003 Andrew K. McCosh , 60014 Silver Link , 60028 Walter K. Whigham , 60030 Golden Fleece and 60033 Seagull . The rest of
14820-455: Was also established in the late 1940s in reaction to the moral panic in order to prevent trespassing by trainspotters. A British Railways campaign for the same purpose was initiated in the mid-1950s. In 1948 a blanket ban on trainspotters at Tamworth Station was enforced despite the protests of The Railway Magazine who blamed the ban on the “misdeeds of a small minority”. Following the end of steam on British Railways many trainspotters left
14950-462: Was an alternative solution. The distinctive design made it a particularly attractive subject for artists, photographers and film-makers. The A4 Class locomotives were known by trainspotters as "streaks". The streamlining side skirts (valances) designed by Oliver Bulleid to aerofoil shape that were fitted to all the A4 locomotives, were removed during the Second World War to improve access to
15080-625: Was built in 1834 by Cherepanovs , however, it suffered from the lack of coal in the area and was replaced with horse traction after all the woods nearby had been cut down. The first Russian Tsarskoye Selo steam railway started in 1837 with locomotives purchased from Robert Stephenson and Company . In 1837, the first steam railway started in Austria on the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway between Vienna-Floridsdorf and Deutsch-Wagram . The oldest continually working steam engine in
15210-508: Was considered popular among both children and adults; the author Eric Lomax recalled the presence of trainspotters on Britain’s railways being a common sight in the inter-war period. Roger Kidner is reputed to have authored the first guide for trainspotters in the late 1930s, although Felix Pole had been producing partial lists of GWR locomotives since the 1920s. The railway historian Christian Wolmar has described post-war trainspotters as "a strangely British phenomenon". The subculture
15340-735: Was constructed for the Coalbrookdale ironworks in Shropshire in the United Kingdom though no record of it working there has survived. On 21 February 1804, the first recorded steam-hauled railway journey took place as another of Trevithick's locomotives hauled a train along the 4 ft 4 in ( 1,321 mm )-wide tramway from the Pen-y-darren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil , to Abercynon in South Wales. Accompanied by Andrew Vivian , it ran with mixed success. The design incorporated
15470-411: Was dictated by the maximum axle loading of the railroad in question. A builder would typically add axles until the maximum weight on any one axle was acceptable to the railroad's maximum axle loading. A locomotive with a wheel arrangement of two lead axles, two drive axles, and one trailing axle was a high-speed machine. Two lead axles were necessary to have good tracking at high speeds. Two drive axles had
15600-480: Was entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to the company emerging as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the UK, US and much of Europe. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened a year later making exclusive use of steam power for passenger and goods trains . Before the arrival of British imports, some domestic steam locomotive prototypes were built and tested in
15730-426: Was eventually given, it was found that the economy obtained over the single chimney A4s was from six to seven pounds of coal per mile, which more than justified the expense of the conversion. These improvements led to greatly increased availability. The first four locomotives included the word 'silver' in their names because they were intended to haul the Silver Jubilee train. 2512 Silver Fox of this batch carried
15860-629: Was named The Elephant , which on 5 May 1835 hauled a train on the first line in Belgium, linking Mechelen and Brussels. In Germany, the first working steam locomotive was a rack-and-pinion engine, similar to the Salamanca , designed by the British locomotive pioneer John Blenkinsop . Built in June 1816 by Johann Friedrich Krigar in the Royal Berlin Iron Foundry ( Königliche Eisengießerei zu Berlin),
15990-557: Was never officially proven. In the United States, larger loading gauges allowed the development of very large, heavy locomotives such as the Union Pacific Big Boy , which weighs 540 long tons (550 t ; 600 short tons ) and has a tractive effort of 135,375 pounds-force (602,180 newtons). Beginning in the early 1900s, steam locomotives were gradually superseded by electric and diesel locomotives , with railways fully converting to electric and diesel power beginning in
16120-498: Was on the footplate and mindful of the risks, told him to ease off. Although A4s were primarily designed for high speed express work they were also capable of high power outputs. In 1940, 4901 Capercaillie exerted 2,200 drawbar horsepower on the straight and level track north of York when hauling 21 coaches (730 tons gross) at an average of 75.9 mph for 25 miles. On W.A. Tuplin's method for grading steam locomotive performance based on both power output and duration of effort, this
16250-524: Was opened. The arid nature of south Australia posed distinctive challenges to their early steam locomotion network. The high concentration of magnesium chloride in the well water ( bore water ) used in locomotive boilers on the Trans-Australian Railway caused serious and expensive maintenance problems. At no point along its route does the line cross a permanent freshwater watercourse, so bore water had to be relied on. No inexpensive treatment for
16380-419: Was proposed by William Reynolds around 1787. An early working model of a steam rail locomotive was designed and constructed by steamboat pioneer John Fitch in the US during 1794. Some sources claim Fitch's model was operable already by the 1780s and that he demonstrated his locomotive to George Washington . His steam locomotive used interior bladed wheels guided by rails or tracks. The model still exists at
16510-563: Was soon established. In 1830, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 's Tom Thumb , designed by Peter Cooper , was the first commercial US-built locomotive to run in America; it was intended as a demonstration of the potential of steam traction rather than as a revenue-earning locomotive. The DeWitt Clinton , built in 1831 for the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad , was a notable early locomotive. As of 2021 ,
16640-403: Was supplied at stopping places and locomotive depots from a dedicated water tower connected to water cranes or gantries. In the UK, the US and France, water troughs ( track pans in the US) were provided on some main lines to allow locomotives to replenish their water supply without stopping, from rainwater or snowmelt that filled the trough due to inclement weather. This was achieved by using
16770-447: Was the highest value ever achieved by any British locomotive, at Grade 26. The highest recorded power output from an A4 was 2,450 drawbar horsepower when Mallard herself was hauling 11 coaches (390 tons tare, 415 tons gross) up Stoke Bank at a sustained 80 mph in 1963. O.S. Nock thought this performance superior to Mallard's world record run in 1938. An A4 with the same load on a "good run" would be doing about 50 to 60 mph at
16900-404: Was to use built-up bar frames, with the smokebox saddle/cylinder structure and drag beam integrated therein. In the 1920s, with the introduction of "superpower", the cast-steel locomotive bed became the norm, incorporating frames, spring hangers, motion brackets, smokebox saddle and cylinder blocks into a single complex, sturdy but heavy casting. A SNCF design study using welded tubular frames gave
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