Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 19, 2008

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A1/A3 represent two stages in the history of the British "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were designed for main line passenger services, initially on the Great Northern Railway (GNR), a constituent company of the London and North Eastern Railway after the amalgamation of 1923, for which they became a standard design. The change in class designation to A3 reflected the fitting to the same chassis of a higher pressure boiler with a greater superheating surface and a small reduction in cylinder diameter, leading to an increase in locomotive weight. Eventually all of the A1 locomotives were rebuilt to A3 specifications. The names for the locomotives came from a variety of sources. The first, Great Northern, was named after its parent company. Others were given the names of high-ranking railway officials, but most were given the names of famous racehorses. One was named after the company's most famous long-distance passenger train, the Flying Scotsman (also the name of a racehorse). Flying Scotsman is the sole survivor of the class to be preserved. As of 2008, it is under mechanical overhaul at the National Railway Museum.