Mallard: How the 'Blue Streak' Broke the World Speed Record

The smooth outline of streamlined A4 Pacific locomotive Mallard is instantly recognisable, an icon of railway history resplendent in blue. Famously reaching a top speed of 126mph on 3 July 1938 on the East Coast main line, this world record for steam locomotives still stands today. Don Hale tells the full story of how the record was broken, from the rivalry of the nineteenth-century London–Scotland speed race, to similarities in Mallard's futuristic design to the Bugatti car, and the influence of Germany's nascent Third Reich in propelling the train into an instrument of national prestige. Mallard's designer, Sir Nigel Gresley, is celebrated as one of Britain's most gifted engineers. Updated with new appendices and extra photographs, this classic book remains the perfect tribute to one of British technology's finest hours. Read more