Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (19 June 1876 – 5 April 1941) was a British railway engineer. He was one of Britain's most famous

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

(LNER). He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the

LNER Class A1 Class A1 in the London and North Eastern Railway's classification system may refer to any of the following British steam locomotives : * The GNR Class A1 or "Gresley A1", a class of 52 Pacific locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, includ ...

and

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, ...

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

engines. An A1 Pacific, '' Flying Scotsman'', was the first steam locomotive officially recorded over 100 mph in passenger service, and an A4, number 4468 ''

Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

'', still holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world (126 mph). Gresley's engines were considered elegant, both aesthetically and mechanically. His invention of a three-cylinder design with only two sets of

Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...

, the Gresley conjugated valve gear, produced smooth running and power at lower cost than would have been achieved with a more conventional three sets of Walschaerts gear.

Biography

Gresley was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, during his mother's visit there to see a gynaecologist, but was raised in England at

Netherseal Netherseal (or 'Netherseale') is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire,OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) :

, Derbyshire, a member of a

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...

of a family long seated at Gresley, Derbyshire. After attending school in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

, Gresley served his apprenticeship at the

Crewe works Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...

of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

, afterwards becoming a pupil under John Aspinall at

Horwich Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...

of the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

(L&YR). After several minor appointments with the L&YR he was made Outdoor Assistant in the Carriage and Wagon Department in 1901; in 1902 he was appointed Assistant Works Manager at

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

depot, and Works Manager the following year. He became Assistant Superintendent of the Carriage and Wagon Department of the L&YR in 1904 and a year later moved to the Great Northern Railway (GNR) as Carriage and Wagon Superintendent. He succeeded Henry A. Ivatt as CME of the GNR on 1 October 1911. At the

1923 Grouping The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...

, he was appointed CME of the newly formed LNER (the post had originally been offered to the ageing

John G. Robinson John George Robinson CBE, (30 July 1856 – 7 December 1943) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922. Early life Born at Newcastle upon Tyne, the second son of Matthew Robin ...

; Robinson declined and suggested the much younger Gresley). During the 1930s, Sir Nigel Gresley lived at Salisbury Hall, near

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...

in Hertfordshire. Gresley developed an interest in breeding wild birds and ducks in the moat including

ducks. The Hall still exists today as a private residence and is adjacent to the

de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, formerly the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, is a volunteer-run aviation museum in London Colney, Hertfordshire, England. The collection is built around the definitive prototype and restoration shops fo ...

, with its links to the design of the famous

Mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

aircraft during World War II. In 1936, Gresley designed the 1,500 V DC locomotives for the proposed electrification of the Woodhead Line between

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

forced the postponement of the

project A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

, which was completed in the early 1950s.

Edgar Claxton Edgar Claxton MBE, FICE, FIEE, FIMechE (7 July 1910 – 13 August 2000) was a British rail engineer. He worked for the British Railways Board and was part of the team which electrified parts of the United Kingdom's mainline railway network i ...

was Gresley's assistant throughout this project, working on power supply, equipment and systems, besides carrying out the trials. Gresley was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1920 and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

1936 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1936 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King Edward VIII to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the ...

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...

. Also in the latter year, Gresley was awarded an honorary

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and presided over the

IMechE The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

. Gresley died on 5 April 1941, after a short illness, and was buried in the Churchyard Extension of

St Peter's Church, Netherseal St Peter's Church, Netherseal is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England in Netherseal, Derbyshire. History The church dates from the 13th century. The tower dates from the 15th century. It was rebuilt in 1874 under the direc ...

, Derbyshire. At this time, Gresley was serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

Railway Staff Corps. He was succeeded as the LNER CME by Edward Thompson.

Memorials

A memorial plaque to Gresley's achievements was unveiled at

Edinburgh Waverley railway station Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...

in 2001. It was created by the Gresley Society and incorporates line drawings of his ''Flying Scotsman'' and ''Mallard'' locomotives. Following the redevelopment of the site previously home to Doncaster College, the square outside the new Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Offices and Cast Theatre was named Sir Nigel Gresley Square, in honour of the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives built at Doncaster Plant Works following a public poll of Doncaster residents hosted by the ''Doncaster Free Press''. Sir Nigel Gresley Square was opened to the public as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, by the Mayor of Doncaster Mr. Peter Davies and two of Nigel Gresley's grandsons, in May 2012. LNER Class A4 4498 ''Sir Nigel Gresley'' is named after its designer. A statue of Gresley was unveiled at

King's Cross station King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United King ...

in London on 5 April 2016, the 75th anniversary of his death. Sculptor Hazel Reeves originally included a duck alongside Gresley in reference to his hobby of breeding water fowl and his bird-themed locomotive names such as ''Mallard'', but this was removed from the final design when two of Gresley's grandsons complained it was "demeaning".

Innovations

* Derived valve motion for 3-cylinder steam locomotives; Gresley Conjugated Valve Gear. * The largest passenger steam locomotive in the UK, the P2

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

. * The largest steam locomotive in the UK, the U1 2-8-0+0-8-2

Garratt A Garratt (often referred to as a Beyer Garratt) is a type of steam locomotive invented by British engineer Herbert William Garratt that is articulated into three parts. Its boiler, firebox, and cab are mounted on a centre frame or "bridge ...

. * The ' locomotive that won the war', the V2 2-6-2. * The first steam locomotive to officially achieve 100 mph, the A3 ' Flying Scotsman' 4-6-2. * The fastest steam locomotive in the world, the A4 '

' 4-6-2 (126.3 mph). * Another A4, '

Silver Link is a Japanese animation studio. It was founded by ex-Frontline animation producer Hayato Kaneko in December 2007 and is based in Tokyo. History After the company's establishment in 2007, Shin Oonuma, who was previously a director alongside S ...

', previously holding the world speed record for steam locomotives (112 mph) * The experimental high-pressure

LNER Class W1 The LNER W1 No. 10000 (also known as the ''Hush-Hush'' due to its secrecy) was an experimental steam locomotive fitted with a high pressure water-tube boiler. Nigel Gresley was impressed by the results of using high-pressure steam in marine app ...

'hush-hush'

4-6-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as t ...

locomotive * The Silver Jubilee Express * The articulated railway carriage, first used with some conversions of East Coast Joint Stock (ECJS) carriages in 1907, soon followed by conversions of GNR carriages; new articulated carriages being built for the GNR from 1911. * The corridor tender to allow longer non-stop running

Locomotives designed by Gresley

GNR

''See: Locomotives of the Great Northern Railway'' * GNR 536 Class (LNER Class J6)

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...

(1911) * GNR Class H2 (LNER Class K1)

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

(1912) *

GNR Class J21 GNR may refer to: Military and paramilitary * Gunner (rank) * National Republican Guard (Italy) (Italian: '), active during World War II * National Republican Guard (Portugal) (Portuguese: ') Music * GNR (band), a Portuguese rock band * Guns ...

(LNER Class J2)

(1912) * GNR Class O1 (LNER Class O3)

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

(1913) *

GNR Class H3 The Great Northern Railway (Great Britain), Great Northern Railway Class H2 and H3 (classified K1 and K2 by the London and North Eastern Railway, LNER) was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotive designed for mixed-traffic work. The class was creat ...

(LNER Class K2)

(1914) *

GNR Class J23 The Great Northern Railway (Great Britain), Great Northern Railway Class J23 was a class of steam locomotive. They had long side tanks that came to the front of the smokebox, which sloped forwards to improve visibility and had a recess cut in to ...

(LNER Class J51) 0-6-0T (1915) *

GNR Class H4 The Great Northern Railway Class H4 (classified K3 by the LNER) was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotive designed for mixed-traffic work. The type was a more powerful development of the earlier H3 ( LNER K2) class and was notable at the time, ...

(LNER Class K3)

(1920) *

GNR Class N2 The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class N2 is an 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley and introduced in 1920. Further batches were built by the London and North Eastern Railway from 1925. They had superheaters and pi ...

0-6-2T T, or t, is the twentieth Letter (alphabet), letter in the English language, modern English English alphabet, alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Its name in English is English alphabet#Letter names, ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''te ...

(1920) *

GNR Class O2 The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class O2 was a class of three-cylinder 2-8-0 steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley for freight work and built by the GNR from 1921. Further examples were built by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER ...

(1921) *

(LNER Class J50) 0-6-0T (1922) * GNR Class A1

(1922)

LNER

''See: Locomotives of the London and North Eastern Railway'' *

LNER Class P1 The London and North Eastern Railway Class P1 Mineral 2-8-2 Mikado was a class of two steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were two of the most powerful freight locomotives ever designed for a British railway. It was initially inten ...

(1925) *

LNER Class U1 The London and North Eastern Railway Class U1 was a solitary Beyer-Garratt locomotive designed for banking coal trains over the Worsborough Bank, a steeply graded line in South Yorkshire and part of the Woodhead Route. It was both the longest ...

2-8-0+0-8-2 (1925) * LNER Class J38

(1926) *

LNER Class J39 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class J39 was a class of medium powered 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for mixed-traffic work throughout the former LNER system between London and the north of Scotland. History The class was in ...

(1926) *

LNER Class A3 The London and North Eastern Railway LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were designed for main line passenger se ...

(1927) *

LNER Class D49 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) D49 Class is a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were named after fox hunts and shires. One, 246/62712 ''Morayshire'' has been preserved on the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railw ...

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...

(1927) *

LNER Class B17 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class B17, also known as "Sandringham" or "Footballer" class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for hauling passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line. In total 73 w ...

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

(1928) * LNER Class V1

2-6-2T T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

(1930) *

LNER Class P2 The London and North Eastern Railway Class P2 was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for working heavy express trains over the harsh Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line. As they were to serve on Scottish expresses, they wer ...

(1934) *

(1935) *

LNER Class V2 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class V2 2-6-2 steam locomotives were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for express mixed traffic work, and built at the LNER shops at Doncaster and Darlington between 1936 and 1944. The best known is the ...

2-6-2 (1936) *

(1937) *

LNER Class K4 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class K4 is a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley for the steep grades of the West Highland Line. West Highland Line challenge The North British Railway (NBR) West Highla ...

(1937) * LNER Class V3

(1939) *

LNER Class V4 The London and North Eastern Railway Class V4 was a class of 2-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for mixed-traffic use. It was Gresley's last design for the LNER before he died in 1941. The V4s had similarities in their appearanc ...

2-6-2 (1941) * LNER No. 6701 Bo+Bo

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

(1941)

Arms

References

External links

Comprehensive biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gresley, Nigel English mechanical engineers 1876 births 1941 deaths Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Locomotive builders and designers People educated at Marlborough College People from Leicestershire (before 1897) Burials in Derbyshire English railway mechanical engineers Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) people London and North Eastern Railway people Hadley Wood People from Watton-at-Stone 20th-century British engineers