IT’S TIME WE HAD AN ‘A4’ IN LNER GREEN
A recent railway modelling publication reported that a new range of LNER ‘A4’ models in ‘OO’ gauge would appear later this year. What really caught my eye was No. 4482 Golden Eagle in LNER standard passenger green livery. The intention was to apply this to all ‘A4s’, when it was realised that as their use was extended, the silver grey of the first four locomotives sat uncomfortably with varnished teak coaching stock. However, the advent of further streamlined trains in a blue livery in 1938 resulted in only nine ‘A4s’ being finished in this way. Subsequently, Garter blue was adopted for the whole class. Most people will associate ‘A4s’ with BR green, and I wonder if there is anyone alive today who can remember any of the original nine LNER green examples. Although none of the four preserved UK examples ever carried it, we could have an exciting new look for one of them. Since it would need to be a fully valanced locomotive, and excluding Mallard for obvious reasons, the choice is clear. But would the owners consider it? B.W. Collins, Edgware