 However, Gerald Fiennes wrote in his autobiography "I Tried to Run a Railway" of one incident on the Eastern Region when an ex-LNER A4 class 4-6-2 was used to pull the Royal Train.The first vehicle was a BR Midland Region generator van, and the difference between the 'buckeye' couplings on the A4 and on the van was about 2".Various attempts to separate the couplings failed, leading the crew to couple up the station pilot (standing at the rear of the train) and apply the brakes.