Herbert Nigel Gresley was unique in his unparalleled 36 years of continuous service, culminating in his appointment at the age of 47 as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LNER from 1923 until his untimely death in service in 1941.
Gresley established a reputation as a brilliant and innovative engineer, and an excellent leader of men. He created devoted teams of engineers, many of whom went on to lead teams on other railways both pre- and post- nationalisation. He led the development of items such as locomotive valve gear, poppet valves, feed water heating, the use of Kylchap exhaust systems, high pressure water tube boilers, the streamlining for locomotives and trains and championed the use of locomotive testing stations. In the field of passenger carriages he was an early pioneer of articulation for weight saving, still employed by the Eurostar and TGV trains, and the use of buckeye knuckle couplers and Pullman gangways, which over the years have saved many lives in keeping derailed trains upright and in line.
Gresley designed many iconic, successful and graceful locomotives and carriages including the world’s most famous steam locomotives, Mallard and Flying Scotsman, plus the three LNER streamlined trains the Silver Jubilee, Coronation and the West Riding Limited. He designed many carriages which demonstrated the ultimate in style and comfort with excellent riding quality delivered by Gresley bogies, some of which were still being fitted to new BR electric units as late as 1961.
This detailed new book reflects on the totality of Sir Nigel Gresley’s many achievements, with particular reference to the many items of Gresley rolling stock that have survived into the 21st century.
