Factfile: 902502

The dynamometer car’s primary job was to record the performance of a steam locomotive. The locomotive was coupled to what was essentially a large spring, with pencils on the end that would record the drawbar pull on a roll of paper. It would also measure other key statistics, such as speed, boiler and steam chest pressure. 902502 was built by the North Eastern Railway in 1906 as No. 3591. It was absorbed by the LNER in 1923, when it became 23591, and was modified and upgraded to match the increasing size and performance of locomotives. It was renumbered as 902502 in May 1946. As well as recording Mallard’s recordbreaking run in July 1938, it also played an important role during the 1948 Locomotive exchanges, recording LMS, GWR and Southern Region express and freight power on the Eastern Region routes. It was withdrawn in 1951 and, given its important place in railway history, was preserved by the British transport commission. It’s currently on display at the National Railway Museum in York. increasing, with most new vehicles retailing in the £45-£55 price bracket. For the dynamometer car, double that… and then add a little bit more. Before you all throw your hands up in horror though, consider this: the only previous ‘OO’ gauge RTR LNER dynamometer car was Golden Age’s exquisite allbrass offering of which, at the time of writing, Hatton’s had a pre-owned example for sale for roughly double the cost of the Rails/rapido model. When you put it into that context, £125 for what can be considered a museum-quality model is actually good value. Just put your eye to one of those miniature windows and take in all that wonderful interior detail – it won’t be long before you’re imagining what it must have been like on that record-breaking run, 80 years ago.