For those interested in railway history, today is an important anniversary. 75 years ago today a locomotive called 'Mallard' set a world speed record for a steam locomotive of 126 miles per hour - a record which still stands.
To celebrate the event the National Railway Museum in York arranged for all six surviving locomotives of the same type as Mallard to appear together in the museum placed around the turntable. This is a major achievement, since two locomotives had to be brought from the USA and Canada!
The publicity for the event resulted in huge numbers of people visiting the museum today, making it impossible to get a good shot of any of the locomotives, so I turned to take shots of the crowds instead.
The centre of the collage has all six locomotives with the crowds in front of them, while the bottom left shot was taken a few weeks ago and shows Mallard just after she had received a new coat of paint ready for today's event.
The display is on for two weeks and will be repeated in the autumn for a further two weeks, so I'm hoping another visit next week will mean smaller crowds, and that I can get some clearer shots of the locomotives!
Awesome selection of shots!!! I do hope you find a quieter time, though... I'd love to see some more close up of the trains!!! I remember you already did one!!!
Thank you Bob - it was pretty exciting! - but the crowds made shots of the locomotives virtually impossible. It must have been very busy again today, because when I went past at lunch the queue was about 100 yards long!
Thank you Pyrrhula - I'm hoping to go again next week when I hope it will be less busy. When I went past the entrance today the queue was about 100 yards long!
Heard this on the news so great to see a collage of this historic event. They also had an interview with one of the firemen that was involved with the loco that holds second place :)
Thank you Karen - it was a bit hectic! I called in the museum again yesterday just before it closed, hoping that it would be quieter, but it was even busier. Perhaps I'll manage another go sometime during the week.
Thank you Malc. Whoever did the publicity for this event has been very successful. It was on the One Show, several news programmes, and even in Yorkshire's Dalesman magazine, as well as in quite a number of northern newspapers. Apparently yesterdays visitor numbers to the museum were the highest day ever - some 11,500 people. I'm hopefully waiting for a quieter day to get more shots!
Thank you Bob - it was pretty exciting! - but the crowds made shots of the locomotives virtually impossible. It must have been very busy again today, because when I went past at lunch the queue was about 100 yards long!
Ian
Thank you Padlock - I saw the special buses to the University at the railway station. I hope your son / daughter found the visit to the uni useful!
Ian
Thank you Jacqui - there were certainly a lot of excited people there!
Ian
Thank you Pyrrhula - I'm hoping to go again next week when I hope it will be less busy. When I went past the entrance today the queue was about 100 yards long!
Ian
Thank you Therese - it was even busier today, with a queue at lunch time around 100 yards long! I'll try again next week.
Ian
Thank you Molly - it was amazing just how many people were there, but then there were two special trains full of enthusiasts yesterday!
Ian
Thank you Tony - it is fascinating to watch how large groups of people behave!
Ian
Thank you Ross - it was certainly very hectic there. Whoever was in charge of publicity has really drawn the crowds here!
Ian
Thank you Brian - there was a great atmosphere there, with lots of people. I hope it's quieter next week so I can get shots of the engines.
Ian
I agree Ferry, I wouldn't wait that long either - there was only a very short queue when I went in.
Ian
Thank you Lee - I think I've already got shots of each individual locomotive, and I'm hoping it will be quieter next week so I can get a group shot!
Ian
Thank you Karin - it was certainly a fun event!
Thank you Karen - it was a bit hectic! I called in the museum again yesterday just before it closed, hoping that it would be quieter, but it was even busier. Perhaps I'll manage another go sometime during the week.
Ian
Thank you Malc. Whoever did the publicity for this event has been very successful. It was on the One Show, several news programmes, and even in Yorkshire's Dalesman magazine, as well as in quite a number of northern newspapers. Apparently yesterdays visitor numbers to the museum were the highest day ever - some 11,500 people. I'm hopefully waiting for a quieter day to get more shots!
Ian
Thank you Laura - it was certainly busy in the museum, and there were lots of very excited people with very expensive cameras!
Ian