Last Updated on April 23, 2026
Engine 6000: The Saga of the King George V by O. S. Nock (Hardcover, 1972).
ENGINE 6000
The Saga of the King George V
Many books have been written about locomotive dynasties, some about individual classes, but this is a book about one single locomotive, one of the most famous steam locomotives that has ever run the rails. Its origin was unusual in that the general manager of the GWR wanted to have a locomotive that would beat all others; the civil engineer was ordered to improve his road so that a locomotive of such greatly increased weight and power could run; and then within weeks of its construction it was shipped to the USA to do some priceless publicity work for the British railways.
O. S. Nock tells the story of the King George V from personal acquaintance with many of the men involved in its design, construction and operation. He has travelled many thousands of miles behind it, ridden on its footplate on some of the fastest runs in Great Britain, and has studied the developments carried out on this engine and her class after World War II to keep a design that was then twenty years old in the forefront of British steam locomotive practice.
And then there are the latest phases of this great, unfinished story; the decision by the British Railway Board to include the locomotive among those scheduled for preser-vation; its languishing in Swindon shed, and then its sensational rescue and restoration through the enterprise of H. P. Bulmer Ltd of Hereford. In 1971, alone of all the preserved steam locomotives in Great Britain, the King George V was allowed to run the rails on British Railways once again; and Mr Nock once again rode on the footplate.
This book was previously for sale at Margot’s Books. The shop is now closed — this post is kept as an archive record only.
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