No date or place, but looks like testing after overhaul work:

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi? ... ALLARD.jpg

The mid 1980s when she was restored to running condition in York I'd say. Hope to see her in steam again in my lifetime.

Joshua

Correct. Taken at the north end of the NRM yard alongside the ECML. York minster is dimly visible in the right background.

"Mallard" is unlikely to be returned to steaming condition. At this time three other A4s are runners and it is the NRMs most popular exhibit.

When it was out and about in 1988 visitors to the museum demanded to know why it was not on display. After the 50th anniversary of the speed record celebrations it was returned VERY rapidly to the museum for display.

Hello,

I understand the 60019 "Bittern" just entered service after a long extensive restoration. I believe she has been broken in on the Mid-Hants and there is hope she will be able to get out to the main line very soon.

I must say, the streamline treatment on the A4 is quite impressive, especially when polished. It is interesting that the front end design has similarity to the HS1 Eurostar's that will be servicing London's new Saint Pancras International. Albeit, it is to some degree basic aerodynamics.

The Saint Pancras official opening is rapidly approaching, scheduled for November 14th. I presume this will be quite the event.

Cheers!

Randy Musselman

This seems odd to me. I would think the very railway/steam conscious Brits would love to see this celebrated locomotive back in steam as much as they celebrate "Flying Scotsman". "Bittern" is back in steam. The neat thing about that is, "Bittern" was moved from home to home while still in pieces, and, it had major frame surgery in the rebuild process. Putting "Mallard" into steam alongside the three others would be, in my mind, like seeing three of our NKP Berks steaming alongside each other.

I think it's safe to say that the Brits have more of a sense of long-term foresight in matters like this than we do. Mallard was resurrected solely for the 50th anniversary of its record-setting run, and should be regarded as "stored serviceable" in the meantime, maybe to be steamed in 2038. There's no NEED to have three A4's side-by-side except for the visceral thrill of it.

At least three owners of major main line steamers, including I believe the aforementioned A4 "Bittern" and the recently-reactivated A2 "Blue Peter", specifically "mothballed" their locomotives for long-term storage just to pull out when other celebrity locos were "consumed". At one point the owner of "Blue Peter" proclaimed his would be the last main line steamer operating in Britain--but that was before the A1 Tornado project. Given the severe valve gear damage that occurred to 60532 when it was finally put back out on the main and slipped into an uncontrollable spin on some greased points, I'm not sure that such a strategy isn't the way to go. Imagine if we could, indeed, pull out the John Bull for one more run in 2031, or bring back PRR "7002" and/or 1223 sometime in the future for one more mainline run............