THE GREAT GATHERING - MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. TRANSPORTATION BY VOLVO AND DAF.TRUCKNETUK.
They said that it could not be done - the vast majority,if not all,railway enthusiasts said that 
They said that it was a “Mission Impossible” and unrealistic to have all six surviving LNER Gresley A4
Pacific railway locomotives together in the same location,space and time
It was and is relatively easy to bring all four of the United Kingdom-based A4’s together,but the other
two surviving A4’s had been in North America for the last nearly fifty years! 
:-
DOMINION OF CANADA,Doncaster No.1854,LNER 4489,BR 10,then 60010.In service 1937- 1965,Canadian Railroad Museum,Montreal,Canada,from 1967.
DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER,Doncaster No.1861,LNER 4496,BR 8,then 60008.In service from 1937 - 1963,National Railroad Museum,Green Bay,Wisconsin,United States of America,from 1964.
There has been talk of these A4’s being rapatriated to the United Kingdom several times over the years,but these railway locomotives were donated to the above museum’s,and have been the property of these museum’s since the donations…but of course it would be great if these A4’s could be permanently repatriated! 
- maybe some time in the future.But these two museum’s have not,and currently do not,agree to it
Hence the “Mission Impossible” title and tag 
THE LNER GRESLEY A4 PACIFIC’S WERE THE ROLLS-ROYCES OF EXPRESS PASSENGER STEAM RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES IN THEIR DAY!
One of their number,MALLARD,Doncaster No.1870,LNER 4468,set the still current speed record for steam railway locomotives of 126 miles-per-hour on Sunday,3rd July,1938
Many railway enthusiasts,and many members of the general public,regard the A4’s as the ultimate and best British steam railway locomotives…so to have all six surviving A4’s together would be HEAVEN for a great many people,including yours truly!
ONE MAN’S DREAM TURNED “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE” IN TO A POSSIBLE AND ACTUAL REALITY.
So there is MALLARD and three other surviving A4’s in the United Kingdom:-
UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA,Doncaster No.1853,LNER 4488,BR 9,then 60009,in service from 1937 - 1966.Preserved since 1966.
SIR NIGEL GRESLEY,Doncaster No.1863,LNER 4498,BR 7,then 60007,in service from 1937 - 1966.A4 Preservation Society,North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
BITTERN,Doncaster No.1866,LNER 4464,BR 19,then 60019,in service from 1937 - 1966.Presrved since 1966.
MALLARD,Doncaster No.1870,LNER 4468,BR 22,E22,then 60022,in service from 1938 - 1963.Preserved from 1963,National Railway Museum,York.
Steve Davies,MBE,ex-British Army officer,Director of the National Railway Museum from 2010 to 2012,must be a broad-minded man with an adventurous spirit and a get up and go attitude ,because,to cut a long story short,he turned the much fabled Great Gathering of all six surviving London and North Eastern Railway A4 Pacific locomotives in to a reality …
Being a motor vehicle enthusiast - and also a railway enthusiast (I’m in to aeroplanes as well! ),I’ve got the best of both worlds with the following photographs :-
As far as I know,Rawcliffe had the job of transporting the two temporarily repatriated A4’s off the freight ship on Wednesday,3rd October,2012,in Liverpool,and on to the dock side only,Moveright International had the job of transporting the two A4’s from Liverpool to the National Railway Museum’s LOCOMOTION Railway Museum,at Shildon,where they were cosmetically restored.
FREIGHTLINER CONVENTIONAL 8x4 HEAVY RECOVERY VEHICLE WINCHING Gresley A4 Pacific,DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER,60008,on to a railroad flat truck:-
VOLVO FH16-600 GLOBETROTTER 6x4 HEAVY HAULAGE BALLAST ROAD LOCOMOTIVE,PO11 AXK,operated by Rawcliffe,transporting LNER Gresley A4 Pacific 4-6-2 Steam Railway Locomotive Streamliner Streak,DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER,60008.1:-
VOLVO FH16-600 GLOBETROTTER 6x4 HEAVY HAULAGE BALLAST ROAD LOCOMOTIVE,PO11 AXK,operated by Rawcliffe,transporting LNER Gresley A4 Pacific 4-6-2 Steam Railway Locomotive Streamliner Streak,DOMINION OF CANADA,60010.3:-
VOLVO FH16 GLOBETROTTER 8x4 HEAVY HAULAGE LOWLOADER ARTICULATED LORRY,operated by Moveright,transporting LNER Gresley A4 Pacific 4-6-2 Steam Railway Locomotive Streamliner Streak,DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER,60008:-
VOLVO FH16 GLOBETROTTER 8x4 HEAVY HAULAGE LOWLOADER ARTICULATED LORRY,DX09 AMK,operated by Moveright,with DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER,60008 on board,and DOMINION OF CANADA,60010,on a seperate trailer on the left:-
VOLVO FH16 GLOBETROTTER 8x4,DX09 AMK, and DAF XF105 SPACECAB 6x4,NX04 CCD,HEAVY HAULAGE LOWLOADER ARTICS,of Moveright.A4 Pacific’s transportation.Paul Fuller:-
VOLVO FH16 GLOBETROTTER 8x4 HEAVY HAULAGE LOWLOADER ARTICULATED LORRY,of Moveright,transporting LNER Gresley A4 Pacific 4-6-2 Steam Railway Locomotive Streamliner Streak,DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER,60008:-
VOLVO FH16 GLOBETROTTER 8x4 HEAVY HAULAGE LOWLOADER ARTICULATED LORRY,of Moveright,transporting LNER Gresley A4 Pacific 4-6-2 Steam Railway Locomotive Streamliner Streak,DOMINION OF CANADA,60010.DAF XF105 is hauling it’s tender:-
THE GREAT GATHERING - MALLARD 75.
Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Mallard’s 126 MPH speed record.I attended the last day of The Great Gathering on Monday,11th November,2013,and returned to the National Railway Museum,York,again on Wednesday,27th November,2013,to have some photographs of me taken with MALLARD,DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER and DOMINION OF CANADA
All six A4’s will be on display at Shildon from Saturday,15th February to Sunday,23rd February,2014,after which DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER and DOMINION OF CANADA will be returned to their “home” museum’s in North America …This Great Gathering has been called a once-in-a-lifetime-experience - BUT there could be another Great Gathering in 2038 celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mallard’s 126 miles per hour speed record! …and possibly a full size full working replica of the first A4 (idiotically scrapped in 1963! 
) LNER 2509 SILVER LINK!
Metal plaques on both sides of MALLARD,4468,states - LNER, ON 3rd JULY 1938 THIS LOCOMOTIVE ATTAINED A WORLD SPEED RECORD FOR STEAM TRACTION OF 126 MILES PER HOUR:-
MALLARD,4468,LNER GRESLEY A4 PACIFIC 4-6-2 STEAM RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE,at the hugely popular THE GREAT GATHERING,National Railway Museum,York:-
THE GREAT GATHERING OF ALL SURVIVING A4’s - Sir Nigel Gresley 60007,Dwight D.Eisenhower 60008,Union of South Africa 60009,Bittern 4464,Mallard 4468,Dominion of Canada 4489.1:-
VALKYRIE
