The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Preservation Trust Ltd

by one of its members

In 1937 the 100^th Gresley Pacific was built by the London and North Eastern Railway, and the railway honoured her designer by giving the locomotive his name. Sir Nigel Gresley, now bearing the British Railways number 60007, was saved from scrapping in 1966 by a small group of determined men, who set up the A4 Preservation Society. This became The A4 Locomotive Society Ltd, and later underwent a further evolution into The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Preservation Trust Ltd.

Sir Nigel Gresley at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on 5th August 2001 - shortly before she was withdrawn from service for overhaul ~ photo by Hamish McNaughton.

The Trust is dedicated to keeping the locomotive running, both on heritage railways and, as much as it can, on her natural environment the main line.  She is a part of the nation's history;  she is also very beautiful.  You can learn from books and film, enjoy the handsomely turned out locomotives gleaming quietly in museums, but it is only when a locomotive is in steam and in action and alive that you experience her in all her glory, feel all the magic.  Nothing can match the spectacle, the magnificence, of a great steam engine running at speed.  This is what we, the Trust's members, are trying to keep alive.

Sir Nigel Gresley on tour, Carlisle station ~ photo by Sue McNaughton.

The down side is that keeping a big express loco in good running order takes a lot of effort.  Sir Nigel Gresley is now getting close to seventy years old.  There always seems to be something wearing out!  The work never ends.  Dirty and often very hard work too - her parts tend to be large and solid chunks of metal, immensely heavy to lift - and it is carried out in often basic and sometimes appalling conditions - once she is in steam, it takes several days for her to cool down again, and when urgent repairs need to be done the support team (heroes all!) sometimes work inside her while she is still hot.  And, on top of the day-to-day repairs and maintenance, the locomotive must have a regular 'heavy' overhaul - every seven years if she is to run on main lines, extending to a maximum of ten for running only on private railways.  The last heavy overhaul was supported with very generous grants by The Heritage Lottery Fund, for which the members are very grateful; now the Trust must raise funds for the next one.

Hard work and costly she may be, but when you see her at the head of her train, hear the cry of her chime whistle, then it all seems worthwhile.  Whether operating on heritage railways or in full cry on the main line, she brings delight to many thousands.

Sir Nigel Gresley running into Pickering station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway ~ photo by Hamish McNaughton.

Having been a very welcome "house guest" of this website for several years, in March 2005 the Trust acquired its own website.

Click on the nameplate for:~

Latest news of Sir Nigel

How to become a member

The Trust's Sales Page ~ all proceeds help to keep the locomotive running.

Sir Nigel Gresley is at present based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

(Some of the material from this page has now been adopted by the official SNGTrust website.)

Sir Nigel Gresley nameplate Copyright © 2005 The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Preservation Trust Ltd

Photographs Copyright © 2005 Hamish and Sue McNaughton

Close-up of the motion ~ HMcN	Grosmont platform, NYMR ~ HMcN

Overhauling Number Seven ~ reports on the 2001-2004 overhaul, with pictures.  This page has now moved to the official website.

An A4 by Any Other Name ~ Mel Haigh, Education Officer of the SNGTrust, explains A4 names and numbers.  (This page is now also on the official website.)

A Tangle of Tenders ~ Mel Haigh follows the tenders attached to A4 locomotives.  You thought that an engine kept the same tender all its life?  Read on!  This page has now moved to the official website.

Supplying Plans

From time to time both the Trust's Education Officer and the Webmaster of this site receive requests, asking if the Trust can supply engineering drawings of the A4 Locomotive.

The Trust is NOT able to supply copies of any ex-L.N.E.R. or B.R. drawings, because it does not own the copyright. The copyright holder is the National Railway Museum, and it alone can distribute copies.

WARNING   The NRM has a limited budget, and many demands on its funds. Keeping and conserving an archive of drawings is expensive. Making copies of drawings involves further expense. The NRM needs to cover its costs – copies of drawings have to be paid for. Some of the larger drawings are quite expensive..

The Trust IS able to supply a General Arrangement Drawing produced by Mel Haigh – follow the link above to the Trust's official site for details. This is the ONLY plan or drawing which the Trust can supply.

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