HOME | DD

Description
Few locomotives can look as different standing next to each other as the British Railways Advanced Passenger Train Experimental (APT-E) gas turbine railcar and London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Gresley V2 Prairie (2-6-2) steam locomotive No. 4771 Green Arrow. The streamlined APT-E was built in 1970 and tested from 1972 to 1976, during which it reached almost 144 miles per hour, but the APT did not enter widespread commercial service and was beaten by the diesel-powered High Speed Train (HST), and it was not until the Pendolino that a high-speed tilting train saw extensive use in Britain. Meanwhile, Green Arrow and its fellow V2 Prairies, which entered service in 1936, were much more successful. They started their careers pulling express goods trains, and soon added express passenger trains and military trains to their duties. By the time the last V2 Prairie was retired in 1966, the engines had also proven themselves the fastest 2-6-2 engines in the world, capable of reaching 100 miles per hour. These two historic locomotives are now parked side by side at the National Railway Museum's Locomotion Museum in Shildon.

Description
Few locomotives can look as different standing next to each other as the British Railways Advanced Passenger Train Experimental (APT-E) gas turbine railcar and London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Gresley V2 Prairie (2-6-2) steam locomotive No. 4771 Green Arrow. The streamlined APT-E was built in 1970 and tested from 1972 to 1976, during which it reached almost 144 miles per hour, but the APT did not enter widespread commercial service and was beaten by the diesel-powered High Speed Train (HST), and it was not until the Pendolino that a high-speed tilting train saw extensive use in Britain. Meanwhile, Green Arrow and its fellow V2 Prairies, which entered service in 1936, were much more successful. They started their careers pulling express goods trains, and soon added express passenger trains and military trains to their duties. By the time the last V2 Prairie was retired in 1966, the engines had also proven themselves the fastest 2-6-2 engines in the world, capable of reaching 100 miles per hour. These two historic locomotives are now parked side by side at the National Railway Museum's Locomotion Museum in Shildon.