The Eisenhower steam engine is headed back to England for the 75th anniversary!
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I for one will want to follow this engine.
The UK's thinking of busting the previous record is quite possible. If they are gonna do it, it will be near Norwich. Plenty of room to run. IMHO.
That A4 is one of the highlights of the museum. I hope they remember to return it after its 2-year sojourn.
I have heard they are trying to get all of the ducks in a row: MALLARD and all of its class still remaining to the UK. Is there one in Canada?
(CBS: That would be a great episode of NCIS with Ducky investigating a naval murder at or near MALARD!)
Bet its gonna take a lot of packing peanuts to fill up the crate! 
I didn't know that Eisenhower had a mobile command post in England. Pretty cool! 
The article mentions that this A4 is NOT the engine that pulled Eisenhower's rail cars. Was it a different A4 that pulled Eisenhower's cars or a different type of engine?
Jim
In about 1969 or 1970 when the Flying Scotsman was touring the United States with his train of British cars, the train visited Green Bay and left two of it's cars that had been traveling with the train. Those cars were the ones that were supposed to be added to the Eisenhower display for a long term display. I'm wondering, now, if those are the same cars that are in the photo and are supposed to be restored during the Eisenhower's absence.
Paul Fischer
Originally Posted by jd-train:
The article mentions that this A4 is NOT the engine that pulled Eisenhower's rail cars. Was it a different A4 that pulled Eisenhower's cars or a different type of engine?
Jim
It wouldn't have been a particular engine.
During most of their service A4s were assigned almost exclusively to the East Coast Main Line. Toward the end of steam some of them were assigned to work north of Edinburgh to Aberdeen.
"Also in the Museum’s collection are two British carriages that were assigned to
Gen. Eisenhower’s command train during World War II. The British Railway
Board set aside a number of carriages for the general’s use while preparing for the
Normandy invasion (D-Day) and for conducting other war-related business. One
of the carriages contains Eisenhower’s quarters and lounge. The second is a
dormitory (sleeper) used by the general’s staff.
It is interesting to note that locomotive #60008 never pulled the general’s
command train during the war."
The US military headquarters was in Grovesnor Square near the US Embassy.
The Air Corps fields were generally north and east of London, in the east Midlands and East Anglia, in areas served mainly by the LNER.
The ground troops built up for the Normandy landing were stationed in the south and west, in areas served by the Great Western and the Southern.
In Ian McKellan's alternate-20th Century staging of "Richard III," Richard actually uses a headquarters train in the final battle with the Earl of Richmond. It was probably based on a WWII prototype, and may even be original. It's a terrific film - highly recommended.
See starting about 1:30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqI7tFBVDpc
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114279/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(1995_film)
