This week, I'm gonna put on my history buff wannabe hat, and write about a named passenger train in Great Britain called the Coronation. The Coronation isn't a train any member of my family, or my friends, or myself has ever had the chance to travel on. But a great event hosted by the
National Railway Museum in York in 2012 had drawn a slight enough connection between the Coronation and I. The
Railfest 2012 was where I had a chance to see and climb aboard of some of the equipment that was used on this train.
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| Seating plan of the Coronation |
Like any other premium passenger train inaugurated in that era, streamlined equipment, tastefully decorated interior, and ample amenities were a must. Being a train named after the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Coronation could not fall short of any expectations. A special blue livery with red wheels was applied to the beautiful and famous A4 Class Pacific steam locomotives and the interior of the passenger cars was decorated in fashionable Art Deco style. Assigned to this train, the Coronation, was also a very special locomotive, one that marked an important milestone of railroading history, the A4 Class locomotive that carried road number 4468 and named
Mallard. That is the locomotive that set the speed record for steam traction at a whopping 126 miles per hour on 3 July 1938, one day before the anniversary of Coronation's inauguration.
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| Beautiful red wheels on the A4 Class Pacific |
The Coronation took 6 hours to travel from London
King's Cross to
Edinburgh Waverley. In the summer months, the
LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) added a beaver tail observation car to the train. This offered passengers a great view along the East Coat Main Line, giving them that extraordinarily unforgettable, romantic experience of long distance travel by train.
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