LNER Class A4
The Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognisable, and one of the class, 4468 "Mallard", holds the world record as the fastest steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle, and later via Newcastle to Edinburgh, Scotland. They remained in service on the East Coast Main Line until the early 1960s when they were replaced by Deltic diesel locomotives. Several A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on the Aberdeen - Glasgow express trains, for which they were used to improve the timing from 3.5 to 3 hours.
Le Mistral (train)
Still steam-hauled in 1964, the "Mistral" was one of the fastest trains in France, with an "average" speed of on the Paris – Dijon section, as well as an average speed of 129 km/h on its Valence – Avignon section. It also had the distinction of being the train with the "world's fastest schedule for [a route of] over 500 miles", averaging on its Paris – Marseille section. Slower speeds on the more "rugged country" between Marseille and Nice brought the average speed down to over the full 1,086 km route from Paris to Nice, which was nevertheless a relatively high average speed for 1964. Soon after that, electrification of the route was completed, and "Le Mistral" began being hauled by modern electric locomotives; starting in 1969, it was Class CC 6500 locomotives. This change along with new passenger coaches increased the train's average speed and shortened the travel time, the latter going from 10 hours, 21 minutes, in 1964 to just over 9 hours in June 1969.