Marylebone station geograph-2498878-by-Ben-Brooksbank

North Eastern Railway Dynamometer Car National Railway Museum York Object Number 1975-7050

The North Eastern Railway Dynamometer Car is a preserved railway

dynamometer car A dynamometer car is a railroad maintenance of way car used for measuring various aspects of a locomotive's performance. Measurements include tractive effort (pulling force), power, top speed, etc. History The first dynamometer car was probably ...

. Built in 1906 by the North Eastern Railway (NER) at

Darlington Works Darlington Works was established in 1863 by the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the town of Darlington in the north east of England. The main part of the works, the North Road Shops was located on the northeast side of the Stockton and Darli ...

, its role was to scientifically measure the performance of trains in order to effect improvements. It initially ran as number 3591 and was painted in the NER's Crimson Lake livery. In 1923 it was included in the acquisition of the NER by the

LNER LNER or L.N.E.R. may refer to: *London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947), a former railway company in the United Kingdom *London North Eastern Railway (2018–), a train operating company in the United Kingdom * Liquid neutral earthing resi ...

, and used extensively by Chief Engineer

Nigel Gresley Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (19 June 1876 – 5 April 1941) was a British railway engineer. He was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Rail ...

. In 1924 it was renumbered as 3591Y and painted in a lined imitation teak finish. In 1928 it was updated with Gresley's design of

bogies A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more wheelsets (two wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transport. A bogie may remain normally ...

and renumbered 23591. In 1938 it was used to record world record high speed runs on the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

behind 4468 ''Mallard''. Post war it was renumbered 902502. It was used in the

1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials The 1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials were organised by the newly nationalised British Railways (BR). Locomotives from the former "Big Four" constituent companies ( GWR, LMS, LNER, SR) were transferred to and worked on other regions. Official ...

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways, and in late 1948 was repainted and renumbered as E902502, still with the imitation teak finish, but unlined. Its last use was in 1951, and was prepared for display at the Museum of British Transport in

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

. It largely retains its British Railways paint but with the lettering and numbering altered to their post-war condition. Part of the

National Collection The UK National Collection is a collection of around 280 historic rolling stock, rail vehicles (predominantly of British origin). The majority of the collection is kept at four national museums: * National Railway Museum, York * National Railwa ...

, it is preserved at the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

.North Eastern Railway Dynamometer Car

Science Museum Group The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums: * The Science Museum in South Kensington, London * The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester * The National Railway Museum in York * The Locomotion Museum (formerly the Na ...

References

{{Reflist Dynamometers North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom)