LMS Coronation Scot - 1939 North American Tour
 

Hi everyone. I specialise in anything to do with the LMS streamliners, especially the Coronation Scot USA tour during 1939-40 New York World's Fair; and also the earlier 1933 Royal Scot Canada/USA tour.
Items such as photos, negs, film, brochures, tickets, advertisments, menus, matchbooks, models, badges, jigsaws, luggage, labels.
Started my collection in the mid 80's at college, after I was given an old photo of a stripey coach 56000 taken at the Derby Carriage & Wagon, 1938. Really miss those "Works Open Days"!
Attachment 2591
1940 season at New York World's Fair.
Attachment 2589
Bell fitting ceremony at Euston station.
Attachment 2590
Nameplate ;-)
Attachment 2592
Driver Fred Bishop's 1939 USA tour cabin trunk & snap box.

Hello Coronation Scot and welcome to the Railway Forum.

I remember seeing the bell at Crewe works four of five years ago. It really was a high quality piece of work.

I still hope to see a streamlined Duchess go over Shap

Followed by F.S.
Now that is a dream.
Stuart

I was telling a relative about my part time job guarding the Royal Scot after it was acquired by Billy Butlin. He had been a porter at Bescot Station, and the story was that this loco had passed through Bescot after its return from America. The Americans had fitted a bell on the front of the boiler and this demolished the lights above the platform in passing. He wasn’t born till 1934 so he would not have been an eyewitness. Looking on the internet it seems the bell was fitted above the buffer bar and not to the boiler; the headlamp is also hardly above the chimney. This is just one instance, petty I know, of half a dozen recent instances where history has been distorted. That Coronation Scot has the bell above the boiler but I was told that the Princess and Coronation class locos were too large to pass through Bescot anyway.
I may have contributed to this distortion of history myself in my recent posting about Deltic under test in the 1950’s. Thinking back I can recall the black wooden fence with uprights and two horizontal bars we were leaning on about twenty feet from the track. I think what was in front of us was a Deltic shell, with a central nameplate, containing the dynamometer car, that captured my attention. The actual traction unit was to our left, but then, somebody would have thought it worth taking a photograph of such a set up and I haven’t been able to find one. Also I was under the impression that Deltic was a play on diesel/electric, but I read that it refers to the shape of the motors. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks, I do like things to be accurate.

Hello and welcome Coronation Scot. You have a grand hobby for sure with one of the grandest of locos. Though my favorites were the A4's I still loved these beauties too.
I now live in Derby and have been to the old roundhouse since it has been incorporated into the derby university. It's been kept generally as it was and very sympathetically incorporated into is surrounding buildings.
Anyway enjoy the forum and above all else have fun
Cheers
Phil

Cheers all for your welcoming comments.

@hereward This link will take you to probably the best front end image online for LMS 6100 showing all the gubbins! http://chsmedia.org/media/hb/03/HB01638.jpg
She did go on a UK stations tour upon returning from 1933 Canada/USA tour. And the bell & headlamp were still attached during this UK tour. See last photo with dedication plate added.
Attachment 2597Attachment 2598Attachment 2599Attachment 2596

A couple of my old american Press photos show 6100 with what appears to be a large straggly fleece resting over the buffer beam and helpers cleaning.
Q). Anyone know if the LMS crews ever used sheep fleece to polish up the paintwork; lanolin and all that?

@46232 Bell was recently displayed with 6229 at Shildon last month. Sign said Only ring it on the hour please as it was driving them all mad!

@Silver Fox Phil I went inside the Derby Roundhouse & Offices, before the refurbishment, with an earlier scheme architect, who'd also been on the same Uni course as I. Roundhouse & Offices were a complete mess. IIRC, just the clean up bill plus a new river wall to hold back all the heavy metal contaminants was about £16m.
(The site agent told me they had in fact got a pair of identical weather vanes - though of course we've only ever seen a 2-2-2 loco displayed upon the Clock Tower. Perhaps the MR/LMS knocked up a spare one?) TBC :confused:

@hereward LMS 6100 Royal Scot had her headlight removed at Crewe No.10 Shop, 22nd July 1934, as there is a photo of her on this date, on page 13 of "British Railway Locomotive Works - An enthusiasts view" ISBN: 1-899624-04-X £19.99

Attachment 2600
Are you on here, guarding, a week before she went to Butlin's Skegness?
Or in correct tapered boiler BR green livery, stored at Crewe, prior to the faux LMS re-paint> http://www.southern-images.co.uk/lig...Id=102&id=1570

Thanks for this, Coronation Scot, to me it is really interesting. Those guys at Boston are “old,” I would be 18 at that time. I worked as a clerk at the Skegness Camp. To raise some money for moving on at the end of the season I took a part time job, 10pm till 2am, guarding among other things, Royal Scot. Only had one problem with the loco: I saw a youth climbing over the surrounding fence, before I could get to him he had painted the controls and dials with white paint that was in the cab and had been used for white lining the wheels. He joined the rest of the trouble makers marching off to Skegy in the middle of the night after being evicted.
Looking on the internet recently I see it was delivered to the camp with great fanfare and a pipe band. I was there and didn’t even know, but then it was the swinging sixties, work, beer, and rock and roll. Does bring home to me how isolated we were. Puzzled by some talk of a Profumo guy, on a visit out of the camp, and something about a big train robbery later on, and missed the Malaysian Confrontation completely.

Welcome to the Forum Coronation Scot. Good to have another LMS enthusiast on board!

Best wishes,

John H-T.