Events – The Great Goodbye – Gresley A4s, NRM Shildon

Final preparations for the Great Goodbye

In Shildon from 15-23 February 2014

We’re just over a week away from the final event of the Mallard 75 series. Looking back over everything that’s happened, it’s truly been an amazing time with so many people showing their love for the world’s fastest steam loco. For an overview of the past few months see our latest blog, but here at the museum we’ve been busy looking fowards and preparing for the next event. The two repatriated A4s left our museum last week to make a special appearance at Barrow Hill, before heading up to Shildon to meet their sister locos. Meanwhile Mallard and Union of South Africa were waiting in the wings getting ready for their own journey to the Great Goodbye. Yesterday Mallard returned to the East Coast Main Line behind the operational engine Union of South Africa as you can see in this video. Together they made the trip to Shildon, and in doing so made some fantastic photos which can be seen here. With the arrival of the two other operational locos next week, Bittern and Sir Nigel Gresley, we’ll once again have all six surviving Gresley A4s together – most likely for the last ever time. For full details of everything we have planned check the website.

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Get ready for the final gathering

We’ve made our preparations, have you? The next seven days will be your last chance to book your place at the special extra events that guarantee to make the Great Goodbye a once-in-a-lifetime experience. With all the special photography events now sold out your final chance to snap the A4s up close and without the crowds is at our Gala Dinner. The engines will be floodlit with plenty of time to make sure you get the perfect shot. Afterwards you can enjoy a sumptuous dinner in the museum’s Collection Building and say goodbye to the A4s in style. There will also be a unique preview of ‘Steamsong’, a multimedia opera inspired by the story of the A4s including a blend of live performance and archive footage. There are also a few places left to attend the series of Curator Talks, offering a fascinating insight into the celebrations from our team of experts. Don’t worry about planning your journey either as our friends at Northern Rail have arranged for extra services to deal with the increased demand.

Make the Great Goodbye a special farewell