The 'stars' of this weekend's extravaganza at Barrow Hill were undoubtedly the A4, A2 and A1 Pacifics of the LNER. For me the REAL star of the show was their forerunner (good adjective!) in the wonderfully elegant form of Great Northern Railway large boilered 'C1' class Atlantic No.251. From their introduction 1902, these magnificent locomotives hauled crack expresses of up to 500 tons and were famed for prodigious feats of performance. By the 1930s the ninety four C1s were gradually ousted from the top link by their Pacific replacements, but several lingered on in secondary use until the very early 1950s. How wonderful she must have looked at the head of a rake of Pullman coaches as she did in her heyday. With great foresight, No. 251 (the prototype) was saved for preservation in 1947 by the LNER, though it's now nearly 60 years since she was last steamed. Sadly, she is unlikely to ever do so again.
Not
just heritage schemes, not just commemorative schemes - this album is devoted to some of the world's most interesting paint schemes, past or present.
