Sir charles Newton Wartime use

[Trains&armour]

Hi

 

I recently came across one of these in Holland, for about 50 pounds, which I thought was a steal. So, after some drooling and telling myself "you really have no use for this engine" I bought it...

 

But now for the tricky part. How do I explain an A4 on a layout that is supposed to be located somewhere on the Mid Wales coast during 1944-1945. (Ah well, it does have correct livery for the period.....) Of course its my layout and i can run anything I bloody like And in wartime, strange things happen. I know they didn't just idle along on the east coast, but were also used for heavy freight and coal trains. But that's about the sum of my knowledge.

 

I really would like some more information on the use of these machines during the war, like how far the ranged, and if any were used on special duties like VIP transport and things like that. It might not explain an A4 on the Welsh coast, but I do like to know something about the trains I own .

 

Any input would be appreciated!

 

Sierd Jan

(thinking about having it pulling a couple of requisitioned pullmans for a top brass inspection tour )

[JohnR]

Ambulance train? A lot of unusual locomotievs were used on those.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The A4s never wandered that much off the East Coast Routes. Not least of the difficulties of getting one to the Welsh coast would be the track loading they presented, built to the 22 ton axle loading that was the usual maximum during the UK steam operations era, which restricted them to main lines.

 

During the war the East Coast route was very heavily loaded, and needed its own largest machines for the traffic, especially given the route's bottlenecks which had to be offset by running heavier train loads to reduce track occupancy. Among other factors, the majority of bombers were operated from East Coast served locations, and each major raid required a large number of extra trains for both petrol and bomb supply. The A3 and A4 pacifics and V2 2-6-2s were operated as a single class in view of the wartime limit of 60mph to reduce track wear, to cover as many as possible of the heavy fast services. The heaviest known service passenger trains ever operated in the UK were hauled by these classes, an A4 getting 25 coaches out of Kings Cross unassisted up the 1 in 105 of the tunnels and running through to Newcastle, a V2 on 26 coaches running to the speed limit from Peterborough to London.

 

The A4s were still used for 'specials' where they could run, the LNER constructing the 'Bayonet' command coach for Dwight Eisenhower,and eventually naming the A4 now preserved in the USA for him as a commemoration.