Shopify Vendor: Farris, Tom (Engineer)

‘Mallard’ and its fellow A4-Pacifics is a story of Britain learning from the USA, Germany, Finland, France and other countries, then building on what had been done for more speed – and winning. By the mid 1930s, speed and ‘streamlining’ gripped people’s minds. Railways found themselves caught up in this too. Trying to do something about it, Nigel Gresley, who was the man in charge of designing the A4-Pacifics, sought ideas in Germany and France. He came back to Britain with the answer – to streamline these locomotives like a racing car. It was a great success. Then people wanted to know how fast Mallard could go.

This is a story about a railway that couldn’t make up its mind. For years they argued over what sort of locomotives to use. There were those who wanted to carry on in their old ways with small, boring locomotives that would need help from one or two others for climbing hills. Then there were those who were looking at the other side of Britain and seeing Nigel Gresley’s powerful and attractive ‘Pacifics’ and thinking they should have the same. The trouble was they had no-one who could design one like it.

This book tells the story of the coming of the railways ( USA = railroads) in Britain. The story follows the path of successes and failures, and personal battles in this society changing time. It also digs out unknown names and railways, and amazing railway facts. This is a wonderfully entertaining story that will enchant children and adults alike. This book is part of the Global Literacy movement to get people of all ages reading books.

How much pride, trouble and misery could a steam locomotive create? No other locomotive could have beaten the ‘Flying Scotsman’. Its story is wrapped up in British pride, setting speed and distance records, having many costly problems, nearly being scrapped, being rescued four times, foreign trips with one that went badly wrong, and men ruined. Actually, the ‘Flying Scotsman’ isn’t just a locomotive. It’s also the name of a fast train service that was started in 1927. The loco-motive was named after it, because it was the first one to pull it.