‘The Railways Quest for Speed’ Robin introduced himself as a lifetime railway enthusiast! It all began in Sept 1825 when Locomotion No 1 was managing The Stockton-Darlington Journey at up to 15mph!

Speed Trials were held in 1825 at Rainshill, DurhamOf the four engines taking part three broke down leaving Stephensons Rocket as the winner with a speed of 30mph. Rocket had the basic elements of steam engines to come ie Boiler, Cylinder driving the main driving wheel.

Competition grew between the Rail Companies. In 1870 The LNER reached 85mph on its mainline. The Great Western Railway produced the well known City Of Truro loco in 1904 with an acclaimed speed of 100mph (Since proved incorrect!)

The LNER then turned up with their famous trump card, The Flying Scotsman. Built in 1928. The LNER wanted a non stop train to operate between Kings Cross and Edinburgh. The train, too, was called The Flying Scotsman. The Flying Scotsman engine was upgraded in 1934 to include smoke deflectors, a water scoop to pick up water without stopping and a tender that could carry upto 65 tons of coal. The tender also had a passageway through it to enable crews to interchange en route All necessary for a non stop journey! It all paid off with the train clocking 101mph This really sparked off competition. LNER moved up a grade with their Silver Jubilee train pulled by the famous A4s setting a new record of 113mph. The LMS stepped in with their Coronation class matching this speed but the LNER had a final say when Sir Nigel Gresley’s Mallard touched 126mph!, a steam engine speed never to be broken.

Since 1955 diesels and electrification have taken over. The quest for speed has still been maintained but safety measures and passenger comfort has also been taken more into account! Facing competition from other sources of transport, British Rail introduced the APT trains and the InterCity 125s, one of which clocked the record rail diesel engine speed of 148.5mph in 1987! The tilted trains, ie the Pandolino, were introduced with the tilts on curves allowing much faster average speeds. Last, but not least,we have the Eurostars averaging 186 mph heading towards Dover and even clocking 208 mph on a test run!! A great way to finish a talk!