LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link

LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link was the first of the streamlined A4 Pacific steam locomotives built for the London and North Eastern Railway, entering service in 1935 to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line. It was one of four A4s finished in a two-tone grey livery to work the new Silver Jubilee train. On a demonstration run out of King's Cross on 27 September 1935 it reached 112.5 mph (181.1 km/h), a British record at the time, which started a speed contest between the LNER under Nigel Gresley and the LMS under William Stanier. Allocated to King's Cross shed, it was withdrawn on 29 December 1962 when Deltic diesels took over the express services, and it was broken up at Doncaster Works on 7 September 1963, the site where it had been built nearly 28 years earlier. Two of its nameplates are displayed at the National Railway Museum in York.