The British Invasion: British Engines on American Soil

[Music] great britain the nation which once had the largest overseas empire in the world and invented the steam locomotive if it weren't for british presence in these colonies society as we know would have been vastly different especially in terms of technological advancement even after independence from great britain british way of life still has an impact on american society to this day through legal codes rock bands television shows and railways although many people refer to the british invasion as the mass recognition of british bands in the states during the 1960s and 70s this british invasion will recount the various examples of locomotives that visited america as well as those which were imported from britannia from the early states of american railroading to present day [Music] when one thinks of british steam locomotes in the united states the flying scotsman usa tour is usually the first thing that comes to mind here britain's most famous steam locomotive was shipped from its home country all the way to the united states for a four year long transcontinental tour in 1969 and almost didn't return home of course not every aspect of american railroading is identical to its british counterpart and modifications were made to the c mansion in order to meet safety standards including a cow catcher bell usra couplers front headlight and a whistle what fewer people know however is that two similar tours occurred in the u.s three decades prior was the flying scots from rival railroad the london midlands scottish or lms the first such tour was switched royal scott class number 6152 king stragoon guardsman renumbered the 6100 royal scott in 1933 for the chicago century progress fair where the engine traversed canada and the u.s with a distance roughly twice the size in about half the time when compared to the scotsman's tour the second tour was only 60 years later where princess coronation class number 6229 duchess of hamilton was re-numbered and renamed at 6220 coronation for the 1939 new york's world fair where famously raced to baltimore and ohio royal blue streamliner however the outbreak of the second world war delayed the return of the prince's coronation until 1943 where it was given its original name and number back but the characters from torturing however did not return to britain and were instead placed onto a sighting and used as accommodation for us army personnel thankfully both lms engines survive in preservation and 6100 is currently pulling excursions throughout britain it's one of two remaining rebuilt world scott classes while duchess of hamilton is on static displays one of three remaining coronation classes and the only one in its streamlined form at the national railway museum in york [Music] art and publicity stunts summer distinctions have briefly found themselves in the hands of american railway museums with two of these engines being found in the humble origins of steamtown usa also known as bell falls vermont at the time the two locomotives in question are southern railway schools class number 926 repton and london southwestern railway m7 class number 30053 repton was originally going to be purchased by the empire state road museum in middletown new york but it was ultimately purchased by steamtown in 1966 along with 3005.3 where the two engines satistatic displays of the two engines reptil was more well known by american rail fans since it was loaned to the cape breton steam railway in canada a few years later where it was modified to american standards and pulled excursion trains and was later sent back to steamtown when they moved to its current location in scranton pennsylvania eventually unhappy about the poor condition of lswr-53 a group known as the southern reputation group was formed with the aim of returning the two southern steam engines to their home country as 53 was transported in 1987 to the swanits railway where it was later restored and remains to stay two years later repton was returned to great britain in much better condition as it was purchased by the north yorkshire morris railway where it continues to work to this day in addition to these two southern steam engines staying in the states for two decades a few more lesser-known british locomotives will make a brief appearance at another well-known rally museum this time in sacramento california of the visiting steam engines the one with the most history on north america was stun robin a private engine for the duke of sutherland which was sold to the fort steel heritage village in british columbia in 1965 and made an appearance at vancouver expo 86 before welfare 91 the engine will be brought back to fort seal after the event in sacramento until being shipped back to britain in 2011 where it's currently preserved at the beamish museum but back to the railfare the other british visitors include a great northern railway j13 class number 1247 locomotion number one built by robert stevenson and reportedly be our standard class 8 duke of glouchester although the plans for dissension were likely cancelled as there are no known photos of the engine in the states other british sanctions that visited the us for similar rail related exhibitions include lmwr greater britain class queen empress for the 1893 chicago world's colombian exposition as well as richard vedic's newcastle locomotive and great western king class king george v at the baltimore and ohio centennial fair of the iron horse at baltimore in 1926. the last of these impressed the state so much that it would directly inspire the baltimore and ohio lord baltimore as well as a few other locomotive classes produced by the mount clare shops around the same time particularly with the design of the smoke box store smooth boiler and an experimental water tube firebox not every steam lock mode that came from britain returned however after spending some time at welfare 91 john knows companies gwen a narrow gauge steam lock move not only attended the next rail fare at the same location eight years later but was also sold to a private collector in the same state as a matter of fact this engine was sold in an auction all the way back in 1958 after the sand hunt and light railway in england shut down it was owned by four different people in the us and has remained on a private backyard railway in north bridge california since 1983. yet gwen wasn't the only little british engine to stay in the states as an 060 tank engine would be purchased by a small michigan short line for tourist runs originally built as rch 7745 or medford number two the power plant shunter was acquired in 1970 along with three british rail mark one coaches by des moines city railroad for service on the newly established tourist runs between point city and boynton falls michigan once in the u.s medford 2 was repainted in a br green inspired livery and was named the flying duchess as it pulled the three mark 1 coaches until the line's closure in 1978 two years later the flying duchess was sold to the tennessee valley railway museum where he pulled museum trains for some time before being sold to a scrap dealer in louisville kentucky for years but was rescued by the ohio valley historical foundation who placed it on static display at lagrange kentucky and eventually gave it an enhanced slivery and a horde what the heck which pays homage to its br green of des moines city railroad but while the flying duchess was spending time between owners in the us a new concept in british rail car design was being tested around the world the beginning of the infamous peso rail bus family was brought forth by numerous variants of the single car leyland pacer realvis which was the most essential form of the pace search definition a singular layla and bus on a freight wagon frame although many of these rail buses tested throughout the u.s for service expansion were used by existing commuter roads one of these rail cars specifically lev2 the only one to be built by wickham instead of brel stated in the us says it was purchased by amtrak for testing on the northeast corridor however a great crossing accident would render the pacer inoperable as it was sold to steamtown who also rendered the rail car inoperable as it was sold again to the durban and greenberry valley railroad who later sold it to the connecticut trolley museum where it was finally scrapped in 2021 although not every british engine that stayed in the states with some small obscure steam locomotive a railcar as two of the six remaining lner a4 class locomotives survive in north america one two specifically number 4496 was renamed from golden shuttle to dwight d eisenhower after world war ii in honor of the american general and was donated to the same country eisenhower served soon after it was retired in 1963 specifically to the national railroad museum near green bay wisconsin similarly although not in the u.s number 4489 dominion of canada was donated to its namesake nation at the canadian rally museum near montreal three years later where both engines have remained ever since with the exception of a brief visit to the national rowing museum in york england for the 75th anniversary mallards run in 2013 before being sent back to their respective museums the next year [Music] since locomotives are a british invention it should come as no surprise that some of america's first engines were imported directly from the inventors this also includes the first tension on american soil namely the pride of newcastle which was fittingly renamed to america the engine designed by robert stevenson arrived in new york in january 1829 for service on the delaware and hudson gravity railroad to connect coal mines to the delaware and hudson canal between carbondale and honsdale pennsylvania thus being america's first railroad although america was the nation's first locomotive in an order of four engines the next engine to arrive sore bridge line would be much more well known as america would suffer a boiler explosion in july of 1829 while the rare would open the months later on august 8 1829 with starbridge line pulling the first train although two more engines from foster restrict and company would arrive later in the year specifically to delaware and the hudson trials for the line were unsuccessful since the engine weighed almost twice the four-time weight limit on the line and the four engines were eventually used for parts but the boiler of the starbridge line remains at the vietnam museum in baltimore and the complete replica of the engine is kept at the wayne county historical society museum at the engine's hometown of honsdale pennsylvania although the first engine in america was built by robert stevenson it wasn't the last one he would build for the states as he built two more small engines for the boston and providence railroad specifically another engine named america and the second one being named whistler likewise his local competition in britain specifically bracelet and ericsson which manufactured novelty would also compete in the american market as bad would produce 14 locomotes for various railroads in the states including the mississippi in 1834 which is preserved as the first locomotive to run in its namesake state yet stevenson would not be outdone as he built another icon in early steam american locomotives in 1831 when the john ball was constructed for the camden and amboy railroad in new jersey where it operated for over 30 years and was heavily modified to gain what would be a truly american look particularly with a cab leading truck cow catcher and wider funnel eventually the john bowle was preserved showcased and steamed up on multiple locations by the royal successor pennsylvania railroad until the engine was acquired by the smithsonian institute where after being steamed up for many world fairs and exhibitions until 1985 it remains preserved in the national museum of american history at the nation's capital in washington dc speaking of the pennsylvania road the railroad which i named my channel after would roster two steam engines imported from britain in addition to acquiring the john bull the penzi would import an experimental 222010 direction in 1889 based directly on the lmwr dreadnought class number 1320. yet since the original builder of the dreadnought class the lmwr's crew works was not legally allowed to sell the engine overseas 1320 was constructed by bayer peacock and company in manchester with the same specifications as a dreadnought and of course in typical american fashion it was given a large front headlight a cow catcher and a bell the idea of the entrance wheel arrangement was that different cylinders would be driving different leading wheels but 1320 was slow and weak when compared to the pensie's other domestically purchased locomotives which wasn't helped by the relatively small british engine being unsuited to the rougher trackage furthermore the unique design of the cylinders made the look more difficult to operate and maintain making it unpopular among the road's engineers and management staff as the locomotive was scrapped in 1897 for over a century this was the last directly imported british locomotive to see service in the states that is until august 2021 when carnegie mellon university imported two viva rail d trains on the east broad top railroad under this program london underground d78 stock subway cars are converted into battery power multiple units branded as the d train or class 230 and after seeing success on regional lines of britain a two-car set was purchased by railroad development corporation in the u.s for similar low-density service called pop-up metro even though the rail cars are currently testing on heritage rail at the moment many commuter agencies and private sector real estate companies have expressed interest in the pop-up metro concept as the use of these converted subway cars is looking to revive the once expansive branch line passenger service of the united states as the nation which created the locomotive it should come as no surprise that the legacy of the british has left its mark on railroading not only in the former colony of america but also around the world even though the massive size and overall design of american engines starkly contrasts the quaint size of the british most cultures visited and inspired each other on at least a few occasions with many american signs going to great britain as well even centuries after british engineering helped create the first american railways their emerging technology and local design still impacts the states to this day as british multiple units such as the br class 800 are often discussed for various american commuter and inner city rail proposals albeit some of these cemus aren't made by british companies themselves regardless it's through all the exhibitions demonstration runs and imports of greatest tensions by american railroads that allowed a greater understanding of not only locomotive design but also each other's overall standards and customs thank you all for watching credit for all the photos used go to their respective photographers and if you enjoyed the video don't forget to like subscribe for more have a good day [Music] you

Channel: Pensyfan19

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Length: 15min 6sec (906 seconds)

Published: Fri May 27 2022