Dwight D Eisenhower is 76 today. This summer, it has been seen by thousands of visitors and next spring it is coming to Shildon. Catherine Farrell, of the National Railway Museum, in York, tells Dwight’s story

IT may often be eclipsed by its flashy blue sister locomotive, Mallard, which became a British icon when it raced into the record books in 1938, but transatlantic travelling sibling Dwight D Eisenhower is now enjoying a taste of celebrity.

Today is its 76th anniversary – it was September 4, 1937, that it rolled out of the Doncaster Works – and last week it featured in a Channel 5 television documentary.

Plus, this summer nearly 300,000 people have come to visit it at the National Railway Museum, in York, where it is helping to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mallard becoming the world’s fastest steam locomotive.

Like Mallard, Dwight was one of a fleet of 35 A4 Pacific class locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley.

From the late 1930s to the early 1960s, they hauled luxurious services from the capital to the North. The flagship was the sumptuous Silver Jubilee. Designed in celebration of King George V’s Silver Jubilee, Britain’s first streamlined train was introduced in September 1935 between London and Newcastle. It cut the journey between the cities to only four hours, and one writer wittily said at the time that the Silver Jubilee meant London became a suburb of Newcastle.

Dwight D Eisenhower entered the services of the London & North Eastern Railway in 1937 with the number 4496. It was known as the Golden Shuttle as it hauled LNER’s elite train, which carried the Bradford wool barons to the capital.

That way of life was short-lived. Luxury travel ended with the outbreak of the Second World War, and after the conflict the locomotive was renamed Dwight D Eisenhower as a mark of respect to the US commanding general of the victorious forces.

On October 29, 1948, following nationalisation under British Railways, Dwight was renumbered as 60008 and once more ran the route between London and Edinburgh.

However, they were the last puffs of the golden age of steam. By the early 1960s, the car industry was booming and Minister for Transport Ernest Marples opened the M1 motorway and signalled a “golden new tomorrow” in his celebratory speech.

The railways had to modernise, and on August 3, 1968, steam was consigned to the dustbin of the past.

Steam locos were left in sheds waiting to be towed to privately-run scrap merchants. Despite the celebrity status of the glamorous, record-breaking A4s, even they were not safe.

Modernisation rather than preservation was a priority for Britain’s railway, and the old steam engines were simply state assets that had to realise the highest price – and the scrap merchants were able to offer far more than individuals interested in salvaging pieces of national heritage.

Mallard, as the world record breaker, was earmarked as the sole A4 to be preserved. In fact, it was due to be the sole representative of Gresley’s engineering genius to survive – even his earlier design, Flying Scotsman, was destined for the scrapheap.

However, private enthusiasts helped some historic locos, such as the Scotsman, evade the blowtorch, and six A4s survive to this day.

Dwight D Eisenhower was saved by its name.

Not only was Eisenhower a military hero, but he had become the 34th US president. So the British engine that bore his name was given to the US people as a “fraternal gift”.

It was cosmetically restored at Doncaster Works in 1963 before being shipped to New York Harbor in the spring. It arrived on May 11, 1964, and was transported by rail to the new National Railroad Museum at Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The privately-owned attraction even erected a building to put it in, funded by donations.

Last summer, the museum loaned Dwight to York’s museum for two years to enable it to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mallard’s world speed record on July 3, this year.

In return, the locomotive was cosmetically restored by UK-based experts – the work took about 1,000 hours, 65 litres of body filler, 55 litres of paint and 50 litres of white spirit.

THE locomotive is in the York museum’s Great Hall with its travelling companion, Dominion of Canada, awaiting the next big event on the calendar, the Autumn Great Gathering – Mallard and her five surviving A4 sisters will gather around the Great Hall turntable for one last time.

For rail fans, it is an event of global importance, as will be Dwight’s last appearance in this country – at Shildon’s Locomotion museum in February for the Great Goodbye.

Then Dwight will return home to be the centre of attention at Green Bay.

“The quality of the restoration work is astounding and we can’t wait to show it off in its new home, in a purpose-built climate controlled building along with the Second World War command cars,” said Jacqueline D Frank, executive director at the National Railroad Museum.

It looks like Dwight will have to get used to being a celebrity in its own right.