LNER 60019 'Bittern' (masquerading as LNER 4492 'Dominion of New Zealand') and complete with second tender, approaches Burton On Trent with the 1Z78 'William Shakespeare' 0816 York - Stratford upon Avon.
On 25 July 2009, Bittern made a 188-mile run from King's Cross to York non-stop using a second tender to avoid the need to stop en route to take on water and change crews. With the first tender having a water capacity of 5,000 gallons and coal, and the second tender only used for carrying an extra 9,000 gallons of water, it was thought that this would give Bittern a range of about 250 miles; occasional stops are desirable in any case, for things such as mechanical checks and coal redistribution in the tender and firebox. A non-stop run on the East Coast Main Line had not been achieved since the 1968 Kings Cross to Edinburgh run by Flying Scotsman, also with a second tender. During the winter of 2010/2011 the locomotive received maintainence which included the cosmetic renaming and renumbering of the locomotive as scrapped classmate 4492 Dominion of New Zealand (BR number 60013). This conversion also included repainting the locomotive in LNER garter blue, the fitting of Gresley's original side valances and the painting of its wheels in their original red colouring. Dominion of New Zealand was one of five A4s named after Commonwealth countries to pull "The Coronation" service named to celebrate the Coronation of George VI in 1937. Two of the five "Coronation"-named A4s also survive - Dominion of Canada and Union of South Africa. The locomotive is due to remain in this livery for 3 years.
