Locomotives on Bank Notes

[whole diary]

[Andy]

Apparently, the Bank of England is asking for ideas for a theme for new banknotes and one suggestion is locomotives. Which four would you choose for the £5, £10 £20 and £50 notes and why?

[RichardB]

Apparently, the Bank of England is asking for ideas for a theme for new banknotes and one suggestion is locomotives. Which four would you choose for the £5, £10 £20 and £50 notes and why?

How about Locomotion, Rocket (two firsts), Mallard and an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) power car (two record breakers)?

[johnneyw]

I'd suggest Puffing Billy, the oldest surviving steam locomotive as a possibile contender.  It has a certain Heath Robinson/steampunk visual appeal to it.

[grahame]

I'd suggest Puffing Billy, the oldest surviving steam locomotive as a possibile contender.  It has a certain Heath Robinson/steampunk visual appeal to it.

* An early locomotion - or Puffing Billy or rocket

* The peak of steam locomotive design - how about a 4-4-0 Schools class

* An HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) Power car - has to be!

* Peak of electric locomotive design - what is the peak there?

[eightonedee]

Please Grahame, this is the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Coffee Shop!

It has to be a (proper) Castle class,  not a Schools class!

[Chris from Nailsea]

My contribution is to agree that an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) power car must be included.

As the £10 note, this giving it the widest coverage.

[johnneyw]

* Peak of electric locomotive design - what is the peak there?

Peak of design or the first of their kind?  Which in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) would be the Class 81?

[Merthyr Imp]

* Peak of electric locomotive design - what is the peak there?

Peak of design or the first of their kind?  Which in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) would be the Class 81?

Just to be pedantic shouldn't it be this?

[johnneyw]

* Peak of electric locomotive design - what is the peak there?

Peak of design or the first of their kind?  Which in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) would be the Class 81?

Just to be pedantic shouldn't it be this?

I guess it depends how you define "first".  I thought the Class 81 was the first fleet of electric locos that BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) received.  However, I know which one of the two makes for a more impressive illustration.

[infoman]

as long as its not one of idea/s mentioned on another non rail forum to have flowers on the notes.

What ever next? smelly notes of roses?

[bobm]

A pacer on the fiver?  Might get some change. 

[John D]

* Peak of electric locomotive design - what is the peak there?

Peak of design or the first of their kind?  Which in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) would be the Class 81?

Just to be pedantic shouldn't it be this?

I guess it depends how you define "first".  I thought the Class 81 was the first fleet of electric locos that BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) received.  However, I know which one of the two makes for a more impressive illustration.

The Kent dc locos (later class 71) were a year earlier
The first class 81 was November 1959

[Andy]

As we're in Railway 200 year, Rocket, Ciry of Truro, Mallard and the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) would give us one loco for each 50 years.

If the theme were less general, 4 iconic steamies might be selected from Mallard, Flying Scotsman, City of Truro, King George V, Duchess of Hamilton, Evening Star, Lord Nelson and a Battle of Britain/West Country....

The illustrations would be amazing!

Iconic British diesels? Harder to define....an HST for sure, a Deltic, a Western and an 08 maybe?
If note colour is a factor...

£5 Blue - Mallard in LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) blue
£10 Brown - Brighton Belle 5BEL in umber/cream
£20 Purple - HST FGW^▸ (First Great Western) livery
£50 Green - Evening Star in BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) Green

[grahame]

£5 Blue - Mallard in LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) blue
£10 Brown - Brighton Belle 5BEL in umber/cream
£20 Purple - HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) FGW^▸ (First Great Western) livery
£50 Green - Evening Star in BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) Green

But yet Evening Star in Green was something of an oddball - a freight loco switched from black because it was the last of a dying breed.

Question (to which there is no answer ... or as many answers as we have members) - should bank notes not have something on them that's current and looks forward to the future?   I appreciate that we've has lots of dead famous people - but also things like iconic buildings or architectural significance that show the solidity of the country.  And on that basis

£5 - Class 230 battery train, suitable for local journeys and a potential workhorse for little things
£10 - Class 158 - beloved workhorse of medium distance services
£20 - IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) - covers a lot more than a 158, even if you are uncomfortable in it / spending it
£50 - Latest Eurostar train - showing the significance of big fast journeys and international connections

[Mark A]

But yet Evening Star in Green was something of an oddball - a freight loco switched from black because it was the last of a dying breed.

I struggle to reconcile standing beside Evening Star at the NRM^» (National Railway Museum, at York and Shildon - about) and the experience of walking through Devonshire Tunnel and imagining *that* rounding the curve, uphill, in the dark, and passing a refuge in the tunnel wall.

Also, this has put me in mind of the preserved railway at Martel in France, where passengers ride in open sided carriages behind a steam loco which climbs what's basically a cliff face before passing through... a curved tunnel on a gradient, something the loco was doing at fairly slow speed but without much fuss, but it was curious to see the loco exhaust follow some law of physics and rise obediently to the tunnel roof, where, much to most people's relief, it stayed.

Mark