Railway museum to celebrate life of famous designer

2:19pm Friday 20th June 2008

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THE National Railway Museum (NRM) in York is set to celebrate the birthday of one of the most gifted engineers Britain has ever produced.

Sir Nigel Gresley, who designed the National Collection's best known locomotives Flying Scotsman and Mallard for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), was born on June 19, 1876.

To mark his birthday yesterday, the NRM brought the LNER chief engineer's original technical drawings out of Search Engine, its vast archive of railway history.

The detailed ink on linen drawing of Gresley's groundbreaking A4 design have only recently been returned to the museum's multi-million pound research and archive centre just in time for the birthday celebrations.

They will be ready to be accessed by the public in July, the anniversary month of Mallard's 1938 world speed record for steam traction.

On July 5 and 6, the NRM will be reuniting Mallard with three more of its streamlined fellows - a sight unheard of in modern times.

This Great Reunion, will see Mallard, Bittern, Sir Nigel Gresley and Union of South Africa brought back together for the first time since their heyday, and will demonstrate Gresley's legacy to world history.

Chris Nettleton, secretary of the Gresley Society, said: "It is testament to Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley's brilliance that 70 years on Mallard's record is still unbroken.

"Gresley is one of the greatest engineers the world has ever known and it is only fitting that the NRM are taking this opportunity to demonstrate the sheer genius of his work with this birthday celebration and the upcoming Great Reunion."

Ken Willets, a former fireman on Mallard, will be discussing what it would have been like for the crew in the dynamometer car - the mobile laboratory that recorded the mighty machine's 126mph velocity during the world record attempt - in the specially-designed carriage on display in the museum's Great Hall.

Andrew Scott, director of the NRM, said: "Aside from Gresley's pioneering designs, it was the crews on board Mallard and the dynamometer car 70 years ago that made the breaking of the record possible.

"We're glad Richard could join us to mark the magnitude of British achievement 70 years ago as we look forward to our historic Great Reunion event."

Gresley's original drawing will be available for photography in the Edmondson Room of Search Engine on request.

There will also be a one-off chance to dine with the locomotives on the evening of Saturday, July 5, including unique cab access and additional photographic opportunities.