How fast could 27 Gallons of Blue paint go...?

I’ll say it again… I love being a photographer… because I get to see things I think are interesting and amazing… and getting behind the scene’s access to the engineering work that goes on restoring locomotives at “Locomotion” the National Railway Museum, in Shildon, was one of them.

It all started long, long ago… well a couple of years ago now… I’ve been lucky enough to make several visits “behind the scenes” for various projects… which led to a phone call last year asking if I could take some images of the newly refurbished and restored Dominion of Canada… with the proud volunteers and staff who had worked on her. She is an A4 Class  locomotive and sister to the famous Mallard… which raced down Stoke Bank at 126mph to set a steam locomotive world record, which still stands to this day!

If you are “into trains” please excuse me if I don’t get into the politics of the return of Dominion to the UK, and the subsequent restoration of the locomotive… save to say that when I first saw her she was a little less than pristine… however many months of work later the team at Shildon presented a beautifully restored locomotive to the world’s train loving press… and me!

As it turned out I was the only photographer there to bring some steps… which gave me a different perspective on the loco and volunteers. I also spent a lot of time avoiding “appearing” in TV footage of the event… but that didn’t stop me grabbing a couple of candids of the various proud staff who were thrust in front of the television camera’s!

27 gallons of LNER “Garter Blue” paint later this is what you get…. atleast that’s what I was told by the volunteer who had painstakingly mixed and prepared her new coat… Dominion of Canada and her sisters formed the centre piece of the “Mallard 75” exhibition in the National Railway Museum, York in 2013… and before they all go their separate ways they are currently all back at “Locomotion” NRM Shildon from 15th Feb. – 23rd Feb. 2014.

Just remember “27 gallons” when you next complain about how much paint it’s taking to repaint your front room!