LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton
Encyclopedia
LMS Princess Coronation Class
The London Midland and Scottish Railway Coronation Class is a class of express passenger steam locomotives designed by William Stanier. They were an enlarged version of the LMS Princess Royal Class. Several examples were originally built as streamlined, though this was later removed...
6229 (British Railways number 46229) Duchess of Hamilton is a preserved steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
.
Service
6229 was built in 1938 at CreweCrewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
as the tenth member of its class and the last in the second batch of five red streamliners, complete with gold speed cheat stripes (the original five 6220-4 having been given a unique Caledonian blue livery with silver stripes). In 1939 no. 6229 swapped identities with the first of the class 6220 Coronation
LMS Princess Coronation Class 6220 Coronation
London Midland and Scottish Railway Princess Coronation Class No. 6220 Coronation was a British steam locomotive.- Overview :6220 was built in 1937 at Crewe Works, the first of its class of streamlined locomotives...
and was sent to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
with a specially-constructed Coronation Scot
Coronation Scot
The Coronation Scot was a named express passenger train of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway inaugurated in 1937 for the Coronation of King George VI which ran until the start of the war in 1939...
train to appear at the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
. There was therefore for a while a blue 6229 Duchess of Hamilton in the UK and a red 6220 Coronation in the USA. R.A. Riddles drove for most of the tour, owing to the illness of the assigned driver. The locomotive (though not its carriages) was shipped back from the States in 1942 after the outbreak of the Second World War, and the identities of the locomotives were swapped back in 1943.
6229 was painted wartime black livery in November 1944. Her streamlined casing was removed for maintenance-efficiency reasons in December 1947 and she was then given the LMS 1946 black livery. In 1948 she passed into BR ownership. BR added 40000 to her number to become 46229 on 15 April 1948. She was painted in the short-lived BR blue livery in April 1950, but was soon repainted on 26 April 1952 into Brunswick green. The semi-streamlined smokebox was replaced with a round-topped smokebox in February 1957, and in September 1958 she was painted maroon. The lining was BR style to begin with; then in October 1959 she received the current LMS style lining which she has carried for all her years in preservation.
Preservation
46229 was saved from the scrap yard along with classmate 6233 Duchess of SutherlandLMS Princess Coronation Class 6233 Duchess of Sutherland
London Midland and Scottish Railway Princess Coronation Class 6233 Duchess of Sutherland is a preserved steam locomotive.- Service :6233 was outshopped in July 1938 from Crewe Works and was part of the third batch of her class...
as a result of Sir Billy Butlin's
Billy Butlin
Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin, , was a British, South Africa-born entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp.American Heritage Dictionary 2004, p. 135.Scott 2001, p. 5...
efforts to place these locomotives as children's playground exhibits at his holiday camps. Duchess of Hamilton survived at Minehead
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...
Holiday Camp and it returned to steam on the main line under the auspices of the Friends of the National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
. The Museum accepted the locomotive from Butlin's in 1976 on a twenty-year loan, and purchased it in 1987. It first ran as the Museum's flagship locomotive in 1980 and was operational until 1985. After an extensive overhaul, it resumed running in 1989 and was finally withdrawn from main line duty in 1996 when its seven-year boiler ticket expired.
From 1998 to 2005, 46229 was a static exhibit in the National Railway Museum, standing next to Mallard. She is one of three preserved Duchesses, the others being 6233 Duchess of Sutherland and 46235 City of Birmingham.
In September 2005 the National Railway Museum announced that the streamlining would be re-instated, returning the locomotive to its original appearance. This work was undertaken at Tyseley Locomotive Works and on 18 May 2009 it was returned to the National Railway Museum, going on display in a new exhibition called "Duchess of Hamilton Streamlined: Styling An Era". The locomotive is currently on display next to a 1933 Chrysler Airflow
Chrysler Airflow
The Chrysler Airflow is an automobile produced by the Chrysler Corporation from 1934-1937. The Airflow was the first full-size American production car to use streamlining as a basis for building a sleeker automobile, one less susceptible to air resistance...
.
In popular culture
The Duchess featured in the 1986 documentary Steam DaysSteam Days
Steam Days is a 1986 BBC 2 television documentary series written and presented by Miles Kington. Each episode is themed around the history of British steam locomotives and railways, particularly highlighting preserved locomotives operating at the time of its filming. The series consists of six half...
with Miles Kington
Miles Kington
Miles Beresford Kington was a British journalist, musician and broadcaster.-Early life :...
on a journey over the Settle to Carlisle Railway. The presenter meets Kim Maylon, the Duchess's custodian at the National Railway Museum in York for the engine's preparation for its epic trip.
In fiction
Although not mentioned in the text, the Duchess appears alongside ThomasThomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...
and Mallard
LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard
Number 4468 Mallard is a London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive built at Doncaster, England in 1938. While in other respects a relatively typical member of its class, it is historically significant for being the holder of the official world speed record for steam...
in The Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
book Thomas and the Great Railway Show, on the occasion of Thomas's visit to the National Railway Museum, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
.
She features in the 1983 film The Dresser
The Dresser
The Dresser is a 1983 film which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. It is based on a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, in turn based on his successful 1980 West End and Broadway play of the same name.The film was directed by Peter...
starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay. Albert Finney's character, an ageing actor, arrives late just as the train is pulling out of the station. He shouts at the top of his voice 'Stop, That, Train!'