NORWICH IN NINETY
It is 1937 and a sleek, streamlined locomotive glides towards the buffers at the London terminus. But this is not King's Cross and the loco is not an 'A4'. It is not even a Pacific. No. 2859 is a 'Bl7' 4-6-0, named East Anglian, and is at London Liverpool Street with a train from Norwich named the 'East Anglian'; the kind of duplication that continues to confuse the general public about (the) 'Flying Scotsman'/ Flying Scotsman even afrer nearly a century.
In the wake of the 'Coronation' and 'West Riding' streamlined flyers the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) had succumbed to pressure from the eastern faction ofits empire to provide a train of similar rank for the Norwich line. No matter the population was sparse and the economy agriculturally based.
No. 2859 and sister 'Bl7' No. 2870 City of London were clad in a streamlined shroud to work a new rake of six varnished teak open coaches comprising two third-class open brakes, full first- and third-class vehicles and two dining kitchen cars ( one first and one third).
Unlike the 'Coronation', the 'EastAnglian' set was not articulated. Students oflocomotive performance have traditionally cast doubt on the benefits of streamlining in lower speed ranges so the 'Bl7' experiment definitely smacked of style over substance, and arguably not even that, as the 4-6-0s were perhaps not long enough to carry off their new guise convincingly.
Even the authorities seemed to have their doubts about the experiment. Having considered the 'Norwich in 135' schedule for the 115 miles, an average speed of only 51mph, despite having just the one stop, at Ipswich, it was decided ordinary fares would apply, without supplement. Food and drink was served at all seats, but it is difficult to see how a peak train with a seating capacity ofl98 made economic sense.
Pedestrian
The following year, 1938, saw five minutes taken from the schedule, but this was still pedestrian by East Coast Main Line standards of
