You know the Coronation steam locomotive was shipped to the USA to impress us but beside our old diesel Streamliners, it looked you know, funny, a dirty, smokey old steamer, messing up our clothes and we were all happier when you Brits had got it back and it wasn't long after that, you'd scrapped the lot.
@@keplermission4947 It took Britain till the 1960's, to switch to Diesel / Electric , for three reasons, The second World War destroyed much of the Rail infrastructure, all engines were wore out because of lack of servicing ( again, the War), Britain was Bankrupted, by --yep, the war. So couldn't afford the Diesl imports, BUT, we still had lots of COAL.
@@MrDaiseymay Not true ... but you know Britain has always fed your lower social classes, a load of Baloney. WWII no, never destroyed the rail stuff. No, no the war didn't cause the servicing issues and Britain wasn't bankrupted by the war but ... you know ... that's what you probably learned. No Britain was finished industrially by the year 1870 and John Ruskin tried to revive the old driving force but something had changed. Then as Germany and others caught up WWI happened and WWII same thing and Britain wasn't bankrupted then but in the 1950s, long after the war there was what we call the Suez Crisis, now in England you'll read a whole different story about that, it's completely covered up as an Israeli problem. So after that in the late 1950s there were the Dr. Beeching Cuts to the Brirish rail networks and after that Britain was Bankrupted because the USA called in your war loans because you were planning WW3 when the first two were still unpaid for. So the truth is that Britain just expired after 1870, something changed, and it caused wars and eventually the US stepped in and chained up your hand. You didn't have lots of coal. During the Empire before 1947 you imported coal from India, then you tried to get it from Germany and finally you got it from Poland but you NEVER had loads of coal. Your pits were useless, it was all lies and today we can talk about it on the internet. Clear up all the lies you know?
@@MrDaiseymay The truth is that your Napier engine for your so-called English Electric Deltic came directly from a WW2 fast E Boat and only the war could get the British to invest in industrial development and after WW2 Britain began quite well but the cost-cutters came in and the aim was to get cheaper labor. So the truth is Britain was you know, finished after 1870 and the Empire started to slip beneath the waves and England was finished and Prince Philip got Edward Heath to put you in Europe because you were finished. You had to pay a lot to stay in but the problem is hard to pin down, there's some problem and Scottish Independence isn't going to solve very much. Basically Scotland want away because England is dead, it's a rotting corpse.
@@MrDaiseymay You know ... the problem that happened in Britain before 1870 was the Great Irish Famine, or Famine of 1845-49 and immediately there was huge influx of Irish genius and they were a force, a very real force to be reckoned with and the legal machinery of Britain was being taken over by Irish immigrants, there were huge protests much as today, Nigel Farage is complaining you know ... but they lost. In the US the Irish question is very important and will be a problem very soon.
I could never be called a train nut, but my God, that thing is a work of art. I’ve always found Art Deco to be one of the most compelling architectural/ design styles to ever have existed.
Sir William Stanier was my great uncle. He married my grandfathers eldest sister. I have a photo of my grandfathers wedding which includes Stanier and Sir James Milne - who also married one one of my grandfathers other sisters. Very nice and polished video explaining the benefits and disadvantages of this glorious machine. Thank you for posting.
I’m not sure what it is about steam trains, but they have a “presence” which diesel locomotives do not. If word gets out that a steam train is on its way, then suddenly a crowd appears. Great video. Thanks.\\\\
Yeah because uh ... you know steam rarely gets on its way. The Gresley steam engine 'The Great Marquess' was bought by the Earl of Lindsay in 1962 and retired recently from the Severn Valley railway as a non-runner but his son's daughter recently married the Duke of Notto in the Sicilian city of Palemro, birthplace of Carlo Gambino, the New York 'Fruit Seller' as he liked to be known. (Yeah that's the guy that 'The Godfather' films were based around). So uh I guess you Brits are you know getting married off to the CosaNostra people.
The NRM have done an outstanding job restoring her streamline casing, and it is awe inspiring seeing her in the flesh dressed up like this. However I must confess that I prefer her in her naked form minus the streamline casing - she's such a beautiful conventional locomotive!
My grandfather was able to cab ride on the footplate of this very locomotive when she visited the states. He was given the chance to take the throttle for a few miles, and to assist the fireman with shoveling coal into the firebox. Thanks for preserving a piece of my families history! I’m 47 years old and will be visiting the NRM one day to see this locomotive in person. My grandad would’ve been proud to see she is preserved as part of the National Collection! Ever since my grandfather told my dad about the experience he had in the cab, this locomotive has been a favorite of mine since I heard of her preservation!
This was an exceptional video, well-paced, interesting, and I liked the switching between the wide shots of Anthony presenting to the GoPro shots when he spotted some of his favourite features! Looking forward to seeing more of the same! (And of course, it helps to have such an awesome engine to show off!)
Wonderful little film. Also nicely narrated, entertaining and easy to follow. Very educating and enlightening. Very important contribution, especially as nearly everybody talks of Mallard and the A4 Class, but there is hardly any film to be found on the LMS equivalent. Thanks NRM, and thanks Anthony Coulls.
Really? I've seen a lot more LMS film footage than LNER film footage; all the British railway instructional filmreels on YT that I've found, the vast majority have been from the LMS, with "maybe" one or two from the GWR.
My father, who was born in 1917, used to collect business people off this train from Glasgow Central arriving at night travelling from London. He told me of these beautiful crimson Coronation class streamlined engines. I was a kid in the 1960s and I found it difficult to visualise what he was talking about. It was years later that I actually saw photos of one - in black and white. My dad was right, the coronation class in its streamlined form was indeed something to behold! A great video. Thanks.
I was in the museum only 5 days ago and it’s a wonderful place. Seeing this beautiful engine in the flesh is absolutely stunning. You can feel the love that went into building it and the power. I just looked at it in awe for ages. And so good to discover this interesting video so soon after meeting her. Thank you.
Enjoyed that. Thank you. Back in November 1953, eleven year old me standing in the field near Tamworth Low Level Main EC Main Line along with many other schoolboy Rail Enthusiasts, all eagerly awaiting the "Mid-Day Scot" out of Euston. We were not disappointed, out of the mist in the far distance the north bound Scot approached ... fast, very fast. Soon it appeared and just as quickly it was gone... 46237 City of Bristol my first ever sighting of my favourite class of steam locomotives in fast action. All flashing golden connecting rods a blur of gold. A vision that is still vivid in my mind's eye. A few years later, the family moved back to London and I worked in central London after schooling had finished. Used my Lunch Break to visit Kings X, St. P and Euston termini. Standing on the platform alongside 46235 City of Birmingham quietly hissing away waiting to take the Mid-Day Scot North, teenager me asked the crew what's the fastest these locomotives can go. Their reply... nobody really knows, no one has ever had them flat out! Fabulous old technology from a distant time when this Nation not only built fine stuff, but was proud to do so.
I love he Duchess of Hamilton too. I have the Hornby model on display and when I visited The National Railway Museum a few years ago, I just had to touch her buffer. Just makes it that little bit more real.
Excellent! Museum work at its best: a well displayed exhibit, informative and educational, and well presented by an enthusiastic curator. I hope certain other museums will take note.
My all time favorite. I first spotted her thundering through my local station with a crowd of young train spotters, towering above us less than two metres away from the mid platform. The lady was undressed in "BR Black", just how she served after her return from the USA during the war. She was on the Pennine run from Liverpool west to east in the 1950s. She was the first namer I had ever spotted. I shed a tear of emotion every time I set eyes on her.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. I have seen this engine at York and next time we go there we will know more about what we are looking at. My wife and I were lucky enough to travel on 6233 last Christmas which was one of the greatest experiences we have ever shared. Just before the engine pulled out of York we were standing right next to it when it sounded that lovely distinctive whistle, fantastic!
Oddly enough that's the only thing I don't really like about them. I don't know why but there's something about the whole Art Deco thing that's like a visual 'nails down a blackboard' to me. Not just choo-choos but everything. I'd rather see the DofH with her clothes off and all that gorgeous engineering on display. This is one of the things me and my bestest mate and drinking partner squabble about every time we visit the NRM. I do have to grudgingly admit that it's right she has her clothes on even if I don't really like it.
Hate it in streamline. I fell in love with the Duchess at Butlins. I was more excited about seeing her than I was being at the seaside. We had some truly wonderful family holidays there but the highlight was always the Duchess. Wonderful engineering but not for me. When I visit the NRM the Duchess is still my first stop. I am now in love with a girl at the West Shed. She is about 30 mins away and I see her regularly. But first love and all that, there is still a place in my heart! ❤️
As a kid in the 1940s in Glasgow I tried to draw the ‘whiskers’ of Coronation. I lost track of the number of attempts I had and the lines still didn’t look right. I have always loved these streamlined locos and my wife bought me a model for my 80th birthday! Love it.
Thank you for such a fascinating video. I didn't know about the gold leaf. Revealing to hear how frustrated crews took it out on the injector valves! While the streamline profile is very glamourous I have to say that I prefer the raw powerful profile of a Duchess without the streamline cladding. William Stanier is reputed to have said "I have decided to please a fool than tease him; they can have their bl**dy streamliners but we'll build some proper ones as well." That huge 6'5" diameter boiler, the dome and topfeed mere pimples crammed on the top with barely any space and that wide, long 50 sq ft firebox say one thing - power! Back in the day we train spotters referred to them as semis.
I have always found these locomotives much more elegant and aesthetically pleasing than the Gresley A4s, though I also empathise with Stanier’s view that the streamlining was more about marketing an image than actual performance. Top marks to the LMS for producing a stunning design.
The 'Duck,' managed the ton 25 pulling 8, the Coronations were designed for the WCML and regularly pulled longer trains at sustained high speeds. Give me a Coronation over a Gresley A4 any day!
Thank you for that very informative video. When I was a lad in the fifties I saw every Duchess except 46230. Happiest days of my life sadly long gone now.
Beautiful Art Deco design that has some similarities to the Raymond Loewy engines in the US. Bravo for not sacking the engine and the technology as is the case with the Pennsylvania Railway’s T1 and S1 engines.
What a fine RU-vid channel. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool railway nut, but I am a keen garage mechanic and amateur (very amateur!) engineer. I used to be a G.A. pilot, and was a rally driver back in the scary Group-B era, so I'm addicted to all-things mechanical. These days I spend more time sitting in a comfy chair with a mug of tea and a choccy Hobnob or three than skinning my knuckles, so I really enjoy this kind of informative stuff. I miss the smell of Rozalex and the squidge of Swarfega, though... Never mind. Your videos have fascinating content and an excellent presentation style. Cheers! 🙂
A great video. Thanks very much. I just love the age of steam trains and was fortunate enough to visit this museum a few years ago when in the UK. Cheers
Neat to hear the bell ring. Besides being required by law, it's an old custom to present visiting engines from abroad with bells as tokens of esteem, many are engraved. Domnion of Canada, an A4, has a bell and a whistle that were presented by the Canadian Pacific Railroad even though it only went abroad when it was preserved, the LNER crews apparently liked ringing it in service.
I rember standing on the platform at willesden junction seeing these locos pounding out of Euston, as a ten year old train spotter, my favourite loco in maroon, happy days
Great video, some interesting in depth look at the loco which I never thought about it. The lack of footing but only for the handrails, and the bent handle/valves in cab where the engine crew vent their frustrations. Fascinating. One of my favourites from GB. With admiration from DownUnda.
Fantastic video and very informative. Thank you. Get this streamliner back into steam - PLEASE .... (I know, I've read many stories, but it would be nice!!) Al.
Some great snippets of information there, even for enthusiasts who know a lot - such as the problems of the handrails, the detail of the coal pusher, and the bell from her US tour - amazing to see that you have this item still preserved for our nation. Worth noting that the Smith-stone speedo-drive mentioned is a later addition to the engine in BR days; and wouldn't have been her original, but what a great little informative video, genuinely well done - keep it up!
Yes, steam engines up to the late 50's had neither speedos or AWS (Automatic Warning System), which only begs the question: why with so much railway traffic, including the shunt-releases and the run-rounds, were there so few accidents?
To clear up something in the video the Coronation class and Duchess class are 2 different classes. The Duchess class are the Unstreamlined Coronations, but the locomotive at the NRM is a Duchess as no original Coronations survived scrap.
Lucky enough to have travelled behind Duchess of Hamilton on rail tours in the 1980’s. Would love to see it out in steam with the full streamlined cladding today.
Thank you so much for sharing this! As a kid in Chicago who loved trains, I'd watch absolutely anything on TV I could find about them. One such show was "Great Steam Trains" which I later learned was actually a BBC show called "Steam Days". The episode I watched the most (likely because it was first on the tape I recorded off the television) featured this engine, sans streamlining, doing an excursion run on the Settle to Carlisle line. It has long been my dream to make it to York and see her in person someday, but until then thank you very much for this great episode!
To National Railway Museum York: Streamlined Duchesses are gorgeous, but my favorite of all the Coronations has the number 6256 and its deserving name “Sir William A. Stanier F.R.S.” I’ve looked into a part of its history online but I wanted to learn more about it because not only is it probably the last british steam locomotive ever to be completed before nationalisation, but its history was overlooked quite recently, especially with it being scrapped despite the publicity it deservingly gets.
Quite agree: that (and 6257?) was modified somewhat, at least the pony truck arrangement and I think roller bearings throughout. There may have been other tweaks too.
@@johnclayden1670 yes the last 2 had the uglier pony trucks which didn't 'swoop' up like the stanier ones and the similarly ugly cut down cabside bottom as opposed the curved stanier design.
Fantastic History about the Duchesses I'll eventually come up to see the locos in the Museum including Mallard, Duchess Of Hamilton and of course other locos too
Amazing artifact of steam locomotion. It all started in Britain in the 18th century and it's fitting that the epitome was reached there in the mid 20th.
As a kid l didn’t appreciate its beauty But now l can see it’s a work of art and also in coach building etc It’s futurism art movement made into a train The quality is exquisite What a fine machine
My father was an LNER man finishing up as a driver with British Railways, but this was his favourite engine. Superior to the A4’s with better design, piston arrangement and valve gear. The only thing that held these engines back was the appetite for coal. I can’t help but think if it had not been for the war and the coal shortage that resulted and followed that a more automated firing system might have been introduced giving better results for mainline work.
Chief Draftsmen as you call them, senior designers here in the US are the ones that really figure out the issues. We just call out the engineers to approve the work, or solve a sticky problem that requires an upper management signature.
Thank you for a fine detailed video of a very special locomotive. The aerodynamic design and perhaps the color reminds me of another famous locomotive (albeit electric), the Pennsylvania GG1... historically claimed as the most powerful electric locomotive built and used in the U.S.A.
It's kind of odd that some clever boffin at LMS or LNER didn't develop a mechanical feeder for coal from the tender to the firebox and taken the load off the firemen? Especially with the coal pusher being installed already! Nice video Mr Coulls & team
Many large American locomotives like the NYC Hudsons and the UP Big Boy had mechanical stokers because they burned coal at a rate that firemen with shovels couldn’t keep up with.
Honestly, I'm just as stunned. That coal pusher was a good half-step, but I think they would've been even more powerful with some mechanical stoking. The highest power output of the class was done with two fireman going at it, so I can't imagine how much easier a stoker would've made things
Screw-type coal transport was used on boats and many engines, but did have the disadvantages of extra weight and complexity. It also may have been impossible to find the space on these engines.
@@garryferrington811 It would have led to various changes to the firebox, and the type of coal that could be used for classes fitted with mechanical stokers. The American/Canadian products for the SNCF (141R) had that kit on the coal fired ones, and the coal had to be ground down to the correct size for those.
Awesome video. I would like to add that not all the Duchess locomotives were streamlined. Sutherland, currently on main line tours, is one example that was never fitted with the outer casing.
@@Volcano-Man It was Caley Blue was the preferred coulour from what I can glean with Aluminium silver strips. Wikki's Coronation page is a mine of information.
@@leoroverman4541 well that is strange as I knew some of the people who prepared 6200 for its public appearance - they said the silver paint was a bugger to do!
By a strange quirk of fate, today I saw both this video again, _and_ I saw a full-color photograph of the preserved Pennsylvania Railroad GG1-class no. 4890 at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and it hit me like a bolt of the blindingly obvious: the GG1 is basically wearing a _Duchess of Hamilton_ skin! They have very similar streamlining, very similar color, and _very_ similar gold piping along the curve of the streamlining. It would be amazing to see the two sitting together, which obviously would be prohibitively expensive. Failing that though, it would be amazing to station a large photograph of each beside the other. Perhaps you could convince your American counterparts to a camera walkthrough of the GG1?
Many thanks for this video, I remember seeing this going through Tamworth and Lichfield while trainspotting as a young kid, and you can tell what was coming up or down the line long before it got level with you. I still think the whole of this class was suburb even with just the big smoke deflectors. The trains of today have no class
There was an LMS Duchess of Hamilton turbine steamer for their Clyde services prior to the locos. She and her sister, the Duchess of Montrose, were single class, and, with no duplication required for facilities, were very spacious, luxuriously fitted out, and very popular. The LNER replied with The Jeanie Deans, the largest paddle steamer built for the Clyde, which could give them a run for their money.
I think you're probably either a Coronation class person or an A4 Pacific person, and my pocket money went on a Hornby Mallard but what's not to love about this piece of world class British engineering?
The Duchess is my favorite LMS Steamer to date. In my honest opinion, the LMS streamlining applied to the Princess Coronation Class is way more beautiful than than the “boxy” style applied to the LNER A4s.
1:01 - WTW is this? I cannot figure how this fits into a steam locomotive???? It is clearly some kind of crankshaft. 4:40 - Aha! The engine has internal cylinders which drive this crank, and those things at the end of the crankshaft are wheels! I'm not a locomotive engineer, but I am a mechanical engineer, and I never knew of this kind of design. This is such a beautiful Art Deco machine. Gives me the shivers. ...
