A 100mph Locomotive for Post 100? Well, maybe not, but the locomotive above, Great Western Railway 3440 “City of Truro” is the first locomotive to have claims made that it exceeded 100mph, on May 9, 1904 hauling a train down wellington bank with the “Ocean Mails”. It probably didn’t, but it’s been an ongoing source of controversy ever since, and fitting for the 100th Tuesday Train. More on the locomotive and the speed claim on Wikipedia.
The image above was taken at Bewdley on the Severn Valley Railway during their Autumn Steam Gala in 2008, when I made a long weekend trip for mostly just the Gala. I arrived in England Friday morning at Manchester Airport, train and bused it to Bridgnorth, stayed in Bewdley mid-way along the line, departed Monday morning to do some early Christmas shopping in London, and flew home Tuesday morning! My kind of weekend break!