Peterborough North

[mullie]

A3 for me, no disrespect for the A4, the A3 paved the way for what followed and looked good in its various forms and liveries.

 

Close thing, I do like an A4 .

 

Martyn

[mullie]

5 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

It has to be A3, you can draw your track plan out much bigger on A3 than A4 paper.

 

Locomotive wise I am abstaining.

Templot?

[Market65]

The A4.

 

Rob.

[Oldddudders]

4 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

 

Sorry nurse, you've lost me there. I'm looking for one of these in your picture ....

 

 

Sadly I haven't seen a Kriegslok since Graz in 1967. 

[drmditch]

The A4 was designed using all the accumulated knowledge of running the A1s and A3s, information published by Andre Chapelon, and some interesting development and testing to produce the casing.

 

It was designed for performance, rather than being modified for post-war conditions of maintenance.

 

The A4 has to be the best high-speed passenger locomotive produced under the leadership of HNG.

 

I do think however, that for a general purpose locomotive, the A4's younger sister in the form of the V2 may the best Gresley locomotive.

Edited April 18, 2021 by drmditch

[Bill37]

A4 please.

[jazzer]

7 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

Well, I'm gonna vote for the A3! By which I mean the post 1928 so-called 'Super Pacifics' with long travel valves and improved superheating - to which spec all original Gresley A1s were - of course - subsequently rebuilt to.

 

It was the A3s that really proved the Gresley large loco pacific concept (not everyone was convinced that it was the right way to go in the late 1920s) and, whereas A1 4472 barely got to 100mph in March 1934, A3 2750 comfortably exceeded it 7 months later in one of the classic high speed test runs of the steam era, thereby paving the way for the A4s the next year.

 

Yes, the A4s are unquestionably a stand out, successful design - but only because of what went before.

 

(I also - whisper it in hushed tones - have a bit of a 'blind spot' for the A4s when it comes to aesthetics. An A3, in original LNER livery, is the epitome of grace and power combined. I'd even put it ahead of an LMS Duchess in that sense. 

Nurse! The medicine - quick! He's really lost it this time...)

I totally agree. If the competition was for favourite loco I would say the A4 but the competition is for best design when you consider the A3 ( as it became)  was still on frontline services after 40 years, and what’s more they were working side by side with class 8 locos , keeping the same times. 
 

With the benefit of hindsight I think there is an argument for saying  the A4 s and all the Thompson and Peppercorn Pacific’s were unnecessary and the A3 s could have been developed further at less cost.  In practice only 90 mph was necessary , not 126 mph and although the Peppercorn A1s were designed for 500 ton trains the post war trend was towards lighter trains and more of them . If the A3’s were given the improved steam passages of the A4’s who knows what could have been achieved? 
 

Just a thought.

 

Anyway, my vote goes to the A3’s

[New Haven Neil]

A4 for me please, as the ultimate development of the Gresley style.

 

Just off to listen to SNG doing 112 on the 'Triumph of an A4' record.  Oh yeah. The civils must have freaked out!

[Mallard60022]

24 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

A4 for me please, as the ultimate development of the Gresley style.

 

Just off to listen to SNG doing 112 on the 'Triumph of an A4' record.  Oh yeah. The civils must have freaked out!

I had forgotten that sound.......bet it was lively on the FP.

Was this when the Inspector said, " That's enough!"?

[great northern]

Computer knows better than me again. It has placed this next image out of course. Since when did 6 come after 11?

Anyway, the result is another shot of 61098, which we all thought was long gone on its way to Cleethorpes. It is quite a nice image though, so I wasn't going to bin it.

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

I sus so this that the A4 should rightfully be called the most successful but I prefer the A3s for their grace and their names (no silly directors!), so I’m going to vote for them anyway.

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

A4, just pipping the A3's.

 

manna

[Woodcock29]

A4 for me. Only because I've ridden behind more A4s (60029, 60009 and 60019), otherwise how could I split them, so was close to a tie for me. Must be something about the 9 with A4s and me even if 60019 was numbered 4464 when I actually rode behind her. I even recall reading Norman Mackillop's Top Link Locomotives as a teenager and that was all about 9.

Andrew

Edited April 19, 2021 by Woodcock29
Typo

[great northern]

Grey and misty here this morning, but golf still calls. The morning image is of a shuttle service from East.

 

 

I shall show the formation later. The loco was probably being used for this just to save a light engine movement from East to Spital Bridge. That's my excuse anyway.

[great northern]

An amost impossible choice in this poll, I reckon. The A4 took it by 13 votes to 7.

 

Now we come to locomotives used mainly on passenger duties. To give a fair bit of choice in each category, I decree that these shall be B17 D49 N2 and V1/3. I know they could all be classified as mixed traffic, but that would make one very large category, so we will do it this way. Mixed traffic tomorrow, with another 6 to choose from.

[drmditch]

V1 and V3 please.
I've never (yet) found criticism of them as vehicles or traction units.
Not sure what lubrication and maintenance would have been like.
Best looking tank engines ever!

(I do like the D49s as well. Unfortunately for my railway I need black Hunts rather than green Shires, and I actually prefer the latter.)

Edited April 19, 2021 by drmditch

[David Bell]

D49. I spent many a happy hour on the footplate of Morayshire in the seventies.

Cheers

David

[FarrMan]

Clive

 

On that basis, an A1 would be better than an A3 or an A4. I think that your argument comes a bit unstuck there! If there had been an A0, that would have been even better.

 

Lloyd

[jollysmart]

D49 today.

[sandra]

I’m going to vote for the B17 purely because I like the look of them. I have no idea as to their capabilities or indeed any of the other candidates.

[DaveF]

B17 for me too.

 

David

[LNER4479]

In terms of the criterion of 'successful', I reckon that the N2 takes some beating in terms of what it was designed to do and how long it did it for. So that gets my vote for today.

[Market65]

I’m going with the D49’s today. In the Thirties and Forties, and the early Fifties, they could be found on so many local services in and out of Hull until the DMU’s replaced them. 
 

Rob.

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, great northern said:

An amost impossible choice in this poll, I reckon. The A4 took it by 13 votes to 7.

 

Now we come to locomotives used mainly on passenger duties. To give a fair bit of choice in each category, I decree that these shall be B17 D49 N2 and V1/3. I know they could all be classified as mixed traffic, but that would make one very large category, so we will do it this way. Mixed traffic tomorrow, with another 6 to choose from.

Are you going to run a play-off series, with the winners of each group pitched against each other?

[Mallard60022]

N2

P