Gresley's A4 'Mallard' of 1938 '4468'

The "Mallard' illustrated here as it would have looked in 1938, the year it entered traffic and broke the World Speed Record for steam locomotives. In the classic LNER 'Garter Blue' livery with red wheel centres and steel rims, the full valance is in place and just visible beneath it on the right-hand side is the Flaman speed recorder.

Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for the London North Eastern Railway , the Mallard is an A4 Class, 4-6-2 Pacific, built at Doncaster and entering service on March the 3rd 1938, works number 1870. Appearing first in LNER ‘Garter Blue’ numbered 4468, the A4’s had several liveries applied over the lifespan of the class. The Mallard was repainted and renumbered in two wartime black liveries, reverting back to LNER ‘Garter Blue’ with red wheels in March 1948 as illustrated here. After the British Railways  darker blue with black and while lining the Mallard ended it British Railways service in Brunswick Green with orange and black lining.

Instantly recognisable by the streamlined design, the A4s came to be a symbol of 1930s luxury and fascination with speed. Built to haul express passenger trains on the LNER’s 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. The 25th of April 1963 was the Mallard’s last day in service and is now preserved as part of the National Collection at the National Railway Museum in York.

The appearance of the A4s changed over the years. The valance over the wheels had been removed for easier maintenance of the valve gear in 1942. Unlike most of the A4s, the ‘Mallard’ was built with the double chimney and blastpipe seen on this illustration, whereas most of the A4 were retro-fitted in the 1950’s. The A4 locomotives all had three cylinders, the two outer Walschaerts motions connected by Gresley’s conjugating valve gear to the inside cylinder.

For the first years of service the 'Mallard' was paired with a non-corridor tender. During the British Railways era it would be attached to a streamlined, corridor tender, allowing for crew exchanges without stopping the train. Able to carry 5,000 gallons of water and up to 9 tons of coal.

Other illustrations of Sir Nigel Gresley’s A4 are available. Visit the 'Mallard' Collection page to view them all.

Posters printed on 200gsm satin stock. Available in 3 sizes.

Every attempt is made to ensure the featured locomotive is accurate given the available references. Colours on the prints may look slightly different to their screen representations.