Great Western RailwayCity Class4-4-0locomotive number 3440 City Of Truro (built at the GWR Swindon Works in 1903, and renumbered 3717 in 1912) is reputedly the first steam locomotive ever to travel in excess of 100 mph (160 km/h), reaching a speed of 102 mph (164 km/h) whilst hauling the "Ocean Mails" special from Plymouth to London Paddington on 9 May1904. This is widely believed to be correct but has not been conclusively proved.
The historical significance of City of Truro led to its continued survival after withdrawal from service in 1931. It was purchased by the London and North Eastern Railway and was subsequently displayed at a new museum in York. In 1957, the locomotive was returned to service by British Rail and based at Didcot it was used for hauling special excursion trains, usually on the Newbury and Southamptonbranch line and was renumbered back to 3440.
It was finally retired from traffic in 1961, and passed into the National Collection (based at the National Railway Museum, York, as a static exhibit. The locomotive was restored once more in 1984 to take part in the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Great Western Railway. City Of Truro was recently restored to full working order, at a cost of £130,000 to mark the 100th anniversary of its record-breaking run.
The locomotive has also featured as a character in "Duck and the Diesel Engine" (1958), part of the Thomas the Tank Engine series of books by the Rev. W. Awdry.
The whole class was gradually replaced and scrapped in the period 1927–1931.
The most famous locomotive in the class, 3440City of Truro (later renumbered 3717), is reputedly the first steam locomotive ever to travel in excess of 100mph.
This class were subject to the 1912 renumbering of GWR4-4-0locomotives, which saw the Bulldog class gathered together in the series 3300-3455, and other types renumbered out of that series.
And so it was on May 9th that the City of Truro picked up a train of 'ocean mails' recently arrived at Plymouth on a trans-Atlantic steamer from San Francisco, and made ready for the 128-mile trip to Bristol, from where she was later bound for a stop at Swindon, en route to London.
The City of Truro was due to be one of the centrepieces of the National Railway Museum's Railfest 2004 - a major event celebrating a number of railway milestones, in York from May 29th until June 6th, 2004.
The City of Truro was originally numbered 3717 but had been renumbered as 3440 by the time of her 100mph run.
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