LNER Class A4 “Mallard” London and North Eastern Railway, UK 1938, 1/160 (N) Scale Model By Amercom

The Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognizable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard, holds the world record as the fastest steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle, and later via Newcastle to Edinburgh, Scotland. They remained in service on the East Coast Main Line until the early 1960s when they were replaced by Deltic diesel locomotives. Several A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on the Aberdeen – Glasgow express trains, for which they were used to improve the timing from 3.5 to 3 hours.

This Amercom model represents the Class A4 “Mallard” built in 1938. Mallard is the holder of the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph (203 km/h). The record was achieved on 3 July 1938 on the slight downward grade of Stoke Bank south of Grantham on the East Coast Main Line, and the highest speed was recorded at milepost 90¼, between Little Bytham and Essendine. It broke the 1936 German (DRG Class 05) 002’s record of 124.5 mph (200.4 km/h). The record attempt was carried out during the trials of a new quick-acting brake (the Westinghouse “QSA” brake). Mallard is now part of the National Collection at the United Kingdom’s National Railway Museum in York.

This is a great historical addition to your locomotive collection