STEAMING TO THE LIMIT

摘要

One of the most important duties of a locomotive works was the testing of new or overhauled engines before they were allowed into traffic. In this special episode of 'P&P', we examine some remarkable examples of locomotive performance. Picture Little Somerford, a Wiltshire wayside station on the South Wales main line, on a summer's day in 1953. The atmosphere is bucolic but the signalman, who has already accepted 'Train on Line', is at his window, looking westward. A drawn-out, strident whistle sounds and a 'King' class 4-6-0 appears, thundering downhill from Badminton with more than a quarter of a mile of train.