A grimy ‘Streak’
How the mighty have fallen. Less than a decade has passed since its world recordsetting speed run, but LNER ‘A4’ No. 22 Mallard looks a world away from the spotless ‘Streak’ that stormed into the history books when it achieved 126mph on July 3 1938. The accumulated effects of post-war austerity, overwork and poor maintenance have taken their toll on the Gresley ‘Pacific’, as they would have done on many of the Big Four’s flagship 4-6-2s in the years during and following the Second World War. Shorn of its distinctive valances and its iconic number 4468 (a casualty of the LNER post-war renumbering system, rendering Mallard as No. 22), the casual observer at Grantham MPD, where this picture was taken, on July 2 1947, wouldn’t be blamed for failing to recognise this grime-streaked ‘A4’ as the former champion of the LNER. With its left-hand cylinder having clearly suffered some recent damage, the exertions of war appear to have made No. 22 ready for nothing but the scrapheap but, in a perverse twist of fate, Mallard might well have been scrapped had war not intervened. Sir Nigel Gresley and the LNER had planned another record attempt in September 1939, in which it was hoped to attain 130mph. If war hadn’t broken out that very same month, forcing the LNER to cancel the run, another ‘A4’ might well have gone on to claim the world speed record for steam traction and therefore would have been the one that was eventually preserved. Happily, Mallard’s prospects were much brighter than this picture suggests, as it entered Doncaster Works early the following year for a much-needed overhaul. It would emerge from the works under British Railways ownership, in reinstated Garter blue livery, with stainless steel numbers on its cabside and plaques commemorating its historic achievements a decade previously affixed to its boiler casing - adornments Mallard carries to this day. Its first duties after its refresh were participating in the 1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials (alongside classmates Nos. 60033 Seagull and 60034 Lord Faringdon) - another feather in its already historic cap. Then, in September 1961, Mallard (then No. 60022) had the honour of hauling the last Down ‘Elizabethan’ non-stop express from King’s Cross to Edinburgh. It would be withdrawn less than two years later, on April 25 1963, whereupon it was inducted into the National Collection.