A history of the East Coast Main Line

456 Pages·2017·72.954 MB·English

by  Robin Jones

A History of
the East Coast
Main Line

A History of
the East Coast
Main Line
ROBIN JONES
THE CROWOOD PRESS
First published in 2017 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR
www.crowood.com
This e-book first published in 2017
© Robin Jones 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 78500 287 8
Frontispiece: The greatest racehorses of the East Coast Main Line:
the last line-up of all six surviving Gresley A4 streamlined Pacifics,
including the pair repatriated temporarily from North American
museums, took place at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon, County
Durham, in February 2014. Pictured left to right on the evening of 19
February are Nos 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, 60008 Dwight D.
Eisenhower, 60009 Union of South Africa, 4489 Dominion of
Canada, 4464 Bittern and 4468 Mallard, the world steam railway
locomotive speed record holder. (Fred Kerr)
Title page: On 30 September 2015, in the waiting room on Platform 2
at Grantham, the official unveiling took place of the spectacular
stained-glass window depicting world steam railway speed record
holder Mallard, created by local artist Mike Brown. (Author)
Dedication
To Vicky and Ross, who both began their careers travelling on the
East Coast Main Line.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Brian Sharpe, Dennis Butler and the A1 Steam
Locomotive Trust.
All pictures credited ‘CCL’ are published under a Creative
Commons licence. Full details may be obtained at
http://creativecommons.org/licenses.
Pictures credited ‘AUTHOR’ were taken by the author. Pictures
credited ‘AUTHOR’S COLLECTION’ are non-copyright pictures from
the author’s personal collection.
All pictures taken inside the National Railway Museum were taken
with the permission of the NRM.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Great Route to the North before
the Railway
Chapter 2 Beginnings North of the Border
Chapter 3 Heading North from Newcastle
Chapter 4 London to Leeds and York
Chapter 5 Bridging the Biggest Gaps: The
Aberdeen ‘Extension’
Chapter 6 Sturrock: Shrinking Distance
through Speed
Chapter 7 The Singular Racing Days
Chapter 8 After the Goldrush: Britain’s First
Atlantics
Chapter 9 The New Golden Age of Steam
Chapter 10 The Duck that Downed the Eagle
Chapter 11 What’s in a Name?
Chapter 12 King’s Cross – The True King of
Termini
Chapter 13 Leamside: The Forgotten Main Line
Chapter 14 When Diesels Reigned Supreme!
Chapter 15 Beeching, Serpell and Electrification
Chapter 16 Reach for the Stars: The Selby
Diversion
Chapter 17 Scotsman’s Modern-Day
Successors
Chapter 18 A New Steam Star for the Twenty-
First Century
Chapter 19 The National Railway Museum:
Jewel in the East Coast Crown
Chapter 20 Gresley’s A4s: Demise and
Regathering
Chapter 21 The Return of the King
Chapter 22 The East Coast’s Darkest Days
Index