Big Big Train - East Coast Racer

A love song for a steam engine. On July 3, 1938, under cover of testing a new quick-acting brake, Sir Nigel Gresley and his team of designers, engineers, and railway workers pushed their brand new A4-class steam locomotive, the Mallard, to a world steam speed record of 126 miles per hour. It was a remarkable achievement in an era when steam still ruled the British rails. The record still stands. East Coast Racer is a tribute to that event and the people behind it.

This video is for educational purposes. I do not own any copyrights to this material.

East Coast Racer is from part two of the English Electric album(s) by Big Big Train, http://www.bigbigtrain.com. Read songwriter Greg Spawton's thoughts on it here: http://blog.nrm.org.uk/2013/05/21/how....

This video is made with archival film from a fine documentary about the Mallard (   • Record Breaking Mallard Steam Train Video  ) as well as archive photos, many from the impressive online collection from the National Railway Museum (http://www.nrm.org.uk/ourcollection/p....

For more about the Mallard, check out the National Railway Museum's exhibit (http://www.nrm.org.uk/mallard) and this article: http://www.yorkmix.com/life/how-sir-n....

East Coast Racer, from English Electric (Part Two), released 04 March 2013
Words and music by Greg Spawton
Brass arrangement by Dave Desmond
String arrangement by Dave Gregory


Rob Aubrey Bass pedals
Geraldine Berreen Violin
Dave Desmond Trombone
Nick D’Virgilio Drums
Megan Fisher Harp
Eleanor Gilchrist Violin
Ben Godfrey Cornet
Dave Gregory Electric guitar, E-bow guitars
David Longdon Lead and backing vocals
Danny Manners Piano, keyboards
Andy Poole Keyboards, backing vocals
Greg Spawton Bass, mandolin, Mellotron,
electric guitar, 12 string guitar,
backing vocals
John Storey Euphonium, trombone
Andy Tillison Organ, synthesiser
Abigail Trundle Cello
Jon Truscott Tuba
Teresa Whipple Viola