Duchess of Hamilton
1938 · LMS Coronation Class · Work 5 of 1,871
A streamlined locomotive in crimson with gold speed stripes, carrying a plate reading "Duchess of Hamilton", three-quarter view, speed whiskers sweeping along the casing, low evening light raking across the smooth flanks.
- What it was used for
- LMS traffic between London and Glasgow — interrupted by a stay in America that the war turned into captivity. In January 1939 she went to the New York World's Fair disguised as 6220 *Coronation*, while the real 6220 stayed in Britain. The locomotive did not return until 1942, the train's carriages not until 1946; the identities were swapped back in 1943. The ship that carried her over was the *Belpamela* — the same one that went down eight years later with seventeen French locomotives aboard (work 24).
- What was new
- The casing was taken off again in the 1940s: it cost more in maintenance than it saved in running time. That is the honest half of the streamlining story.
Connections
Every connection names its kind. “Forerunner” on its own would be a claim.
- Follows fromRoyal Scot1927The American tour of 1939 was a repeat of the one in 1933: same company, same staging, again a locomotive running under another's name. The LMS chairman wrote in the 1939 brochure: "In 1933 we sent you an Ambassador of goodwill and technical achievement, the Royal Scot train."Source: Brighton Toy and Model Museum: 1939 Coronation Scot US Tour publicity brochure, blue (LMS) · Brighton Toy and Model Museum: The Royal Scot in America, 1933