"London and North Eastern Railway locomotive numbered 4468 Mallard is a Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotivebuilt at Doncaster, England in 1938. It is historically significant as the holder of the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph (203 km/h).
The A4 class was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley to power high-speed streamlined trains. The wind-tunnel-tested,aerodynamic body and high power allowed the class to reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), although in everyday service it rarely attained this speed. While in British Railways days regular steam-hauled rail services in the UK were officially limited to a 90 mph 'line speed', pre-war, the A4s had to run way above 90 mph just to keep schedule on trains such as the Silver Jubilee and Coronation,[3] with the engines reaching the magic three figures on many occasions.[4][5] Mallard covered almost one and a half million miles (2.4 million km) before it was retired in 1963."
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