One of the great railway traditions was to name steam engines after successful racehorses. Sir Nigel Gresley's A4 Pacific, Wallop, was part of this tradition, and set a world speed record of 126mph on 3 July 1938 just south of Grantham, Unfortunately, the Duke of Temperance thought the name "Wallop" had an unsavoury association with strong drink, and the engine was renamed Mallard.
My dad had a horse that acted like that in real life. turned out he had rabies and we had to shoot him!
jerhyer 2 years ago 2