4492 Dominion of New Zealand (60019 Bittern) - 1Z94 26/05/11

[Will]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBR-9WIC7Zg

[ashgray]

Very nice shots Will. This train delayed my commuter train home this evening by about 15 minutes - not a problem for me, as I got to see it, but you should have heard the sheeps winge at being late home...

I just can't understand why the relevant authority took the trouble of running the loco as 4492 Dominion of New Zealand, when most people assembled on the platform at Bristol Temple Meads knew it was Bittern in blue disguise....

What's wrong with simply running Bittern in her usual green livery, particularly as the majority of the coaching stock was (a very dirty) Southern green?

Ash

[Will]

Thanks Ash. It doesn't suprise me, they windge at anything and everything these days! It seems strange to me as well, I'm sure there was a reason. I guess it's somthing different to perhaps try and get more sales of tickets, I don't know how it works though! As I said on a different site, I still prefer 60019 in it's Green and not this blue, it's nice to see it changed, but all the effort they spent on it will be wasted when they change it back to Green when '019's ticket expires!

[nutterjknights]

I have a thought about why they are doing it. It’s so every A4 gets a chance to be "preserved" on the UK rail network. I’m guessing it won’t be Mallard, Dominion of Canada, and Dwight D Eisenhower as these still exist all be it in museums. Also won’t be Sir Nigel Gresley or Union of South Africa as these are useable (Union of SA undergoing an overhaul at the moment). Like I say it’s only a theory.

[alexnick]

I for one really liked the garter blue livery. It shows just how striking the A4s were when unveiled, and is a great example of 1930s industrial design. I very much enjoyed seeing it steam through Ash on the Guildford-Reading line yesterday.

I believe the repaint of Bittern is to replicate the original Coronation services, of which Dominion of New Zealand was a regular.

There can often be too much in the way of BR era liveries in preservation and it's nice to remember other periods of steam traction as well. It would be even better if the original Coronation stock had survived, which would have looked truly spectacular, or if LNER teaks were allowed on mainline charters, but sadly both are impossible.

AN

[kirkheath]

A very nice video indeed she looks nice and speedy there, I also like the LNER guise as it adds variety to what is available. My take on the event is that she has been changed because in the case with 3850 was at the GCR and they repainted her into her correct BR black livery it was because A - it's how they actually appeared in steam service (They were never green) and B because it was what the shareholders wanted.

So my guess is that it was a shareholders/ loco owner decision as it is what they wanted to do, maybe it is something personal or some sort of birthday to 4492. Bittern has always formed many guises, back in the 80s or mid 90s when she was a regular at the GCR, she used to actually be painted as 2509 in the grey livery and with a single blastpipe