Nigel Gresley

The LNER A4 "Sir Nigel Gresley"

Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (born June 19, 1876 in Edinburgh , Scotland , † April 5, 1941 in Watton-at-Stone , Hertfordshire ) was one of the leading British steam locomotive designers .

From 1911 to 1922 he was Superintendent of the Great Northern Railway and was responsible for the execution, repair and maintenance of all locomotives. A number of the most successful modern locomotives were created under his responsibility. From 1923 to 1941 he was Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). For the LNER he designed some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain including the LNER class A4 which includes the number 4468 Mallard . The Mallard is considered to be the steam locomotive that has reached the highest speed documented by measurements. An identical locomotive, number 4498, was named in Gresley's honor. It now belongs to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway . His other designs include the LNER class A3 , the LNER class V2 , the LNER class P2 and the LNER class K4 .

He was a fan of the triple construction (ie three-cylinder locomotive with simple steam expansion), and most of his creations have this construction principle. To do this, he invented the so-called Gresley control for the inner cylinder. With this, the control of the slide of the inner cylinder is derived mechanically from the slide movements of the outer cylinder. A complex and poorly accessible internal control is thus avoided. The American ALCO owned a license for the Gresley control and used it for all of their 3-cylinder locomotives. The largest and most famous American machines with this control were the 2'F1 '(according to American notation 4-12-2) locomotives of the Union Pacific Railroad Class 9000 .

Sir Nigel Gresley was President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1936 . He died at the age of 65 after a brief illness. His successor as chief engineer of the LNER was Edward Thompson .