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Bittern gets a makeover

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kestrel

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did a test run the other night looks good, the rivit counters will hate it but.............
 
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LE Greys

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Found this online:

2u9o202.jpg


She's looking great!

Wonderful. That's how A4s are meant to look. Put her at the front of a nice rake of blue/grey coaches (near as we have to Coronation stock) and that would be perfect.
 

sprinterguy

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Is she still booked to work the Kings Cross to Tyne Yard leg of the “Great Britain IV” tour this Saturday? The loco looks absolutely phenomenal.
 

The Decapod

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It's wonderful - I have to confess that when I first read the article about Bittern / Dominon of New Zealand in Heritage Railway magazine last month my first thought was that it was an April Fool's article. But the magazine now has the last laugh, since something which could so easily have been taken as an April Fool turned out to be true. I hope I see Dominion of New Zealand one day.

Is the member 'Bittern' on here now to be known as 'Dominion of New Zealand' too?:lol:
 

43021HST

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How about these?

Virgin Trains Pendolino livery

GNER livery which I actually really like!

I think the Virgin Livery would suit the duchesses better. Has anyone noticed duchesses have quite a close affinity to pendos for example, the streamlined bodywork looks ridiculous, they're red and they both look like ladys play things.

Seriously though modern liverys on the A4s look hideous.
 

DarloRich

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How about these?

Virgin Trains Pendolino livery

GNER livery which I actually really like!

Get that West Coast muck off them! They are East Coast Locos! Everyone knows that REAL locos were built in Doncaster or Darlington not some village in Cheshire or some seaside resort in France or some shed in Wiltshire :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

I am not to concerned if the loco takes on a different identity. It will give people a chance to see a historic loco running in a famous livery and give people a chancr to experiance something they can only see in a museum or in a picture.
 

LE Greys

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"Dominion of New Zealand" is passing through tomorrow morning on the Great Britain. I intend to get a shot at Little Wymondley.
 

GNER 373

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Well I did comment on this thread about my dislike that Bittern was going 'missing' for three years, however I popped down to Tyne Yard this morning (without bloody camera!!!) and saw 'Dominion of New Zealand' and......

WOW!

I take back what I said earlier about my opposal to this as just watching that Garter Blue in the sun was just amazing! Very good! And it's not like i'll never see Bittern again! Get yourself out to see this Loco at your first opportunity (remember your camera's!!!) :)
 

Kinghambranch

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An excellent sight at Grantham this morning. Really wonderful. (and that's from a GWR enthusiast!)
 

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TGV

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I saw it at Conington, Cambridgeshire (South of Peterborough) where I timed it perfectly as a 91 drew up alongside to pass it's great grandfather...

(also posted in the photography forum)
 

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GNER 373

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i saw it at conington, cambridgeshire (south of peterborough) where i timed it perfectly as a 91 drew up alongside to pass it's great grandfather...

(also posted in the photography forum)

what a picture!:d:d:d
 

LE Greys

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Looked and sounded amazing in the half-second or so I saw her (through a hole in a hedge). Hope the film turns out OK, it also has some Peregrine shots on it (of the feathered variety, the steel one is with us no more).

I must admit, I didn't get a good look, so did not even notice that she was running with the canteen. The lack of water stops in the timetable puzzled me a bit, but now I know why. How long is the longest an A4 has run in preservation without stopping?
 

sprinterguy

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Wow, the loco looks incredible. It's good to see a garter blue A4 back on the main line with full skirts. I have a friend of a friend who believes that she's eventually going to be given back her identity as 4464 "Bittern", still in garter blue, in the future after a brief sojourn as "Dominion of New Zealand". Can anyone confirm or deny this piece of hearsay?
 

yummy125

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I saw this loco yesterday from the lookout platform in the NRM York. :D

I can't understand why a loco would want to change it's name & number on both sides to one which has been scrapped. :o
 

60163

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I saw this loco yesterday from the lookout platform in the NRM York. :D

I can't understand why a loco would want to change it's name & number on both sides to one which has been scrapped. :o


I saw it on York station, saturday, after going to the NRM :)
Had no idea it was coming in; got in an XC Voyager home, then saw in the reflection of the window, that streamlined front of the A4....I thought I was going mad!
 

Kinghambranch

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But why has it been done?

As above, the owner can afford to and something like this refreshes a product to sell to the public, who aren't all enthusiasts. The classic depiction of A4s on posters etc tends to be in the Silver Jubilee livery or in the Garter Blue livery like DONZ/Bittern. Although most people alive today remember only the BR green livery it is not perhaps the most iconic. It is certainly an attention getter - watching people on service trains at Grantham that day craning their necks to see this magnificent sight was quite an amusing sight in itself. The only thing better would have been 6023, KEII!
 

Bittern

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What year did "Dominion of New Zealand" get scrapped..?

60013 Dominion of New Zealand was withdrawn from Shed 34A (Kings Cross) on 18/04/1963 and was cut up at Darlington works a few days later on 23/04/1963.

So basically, she could've been running one week and by the next, she would be gone!
 

yummy125

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NRM could rename "Mallard" to "Bittern" for a few months. Wonder what the reaction would be from A4 fans.. :lol:
 

LE Greys

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would have saved a re-paint:D

Any possibilty of Mallard returing to mainline condition?

They spent too much time and money on the Flying Scotsman restoration, which is unfortunate, since it will be 75 years since the world record in two years' time.
 
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