Everything about Sir Nigel Gresley totally explained
For the A4-class locomotive named after the designer, see 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley
Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (
19 June,
1876 –
5 April,
1941) was one of Britain's most famous
steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the
LNER Class A1 and
LNER Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific engines. An A1,
Flying Scotsman, was the first steam locomotive officially recorded over 100mph in passenger service, and an A4, number 4468
Mallard, still holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world.
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
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 (due to his mother's ante-natal complications), but was raised in
Netherseal,
Derbyshire. After attending school in
Sussex and at
Marlborough College, Gresley served his apprenticeship at the
Crewe works of the
London and North Western Railway, afterwards becoming a pupil under
John Aspinall at
Horwich of the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (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 depot, and Works Manager the following year.
This rapid rise in his career was maintained, for in 1904 he became Assistant Superintendent of the Carriage and Wagon Department of the L&YR. A year later he 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 he was appointed CME of the newly-formed LNER (the post had originally been offered to the ageing
John G. Robinson; Robinson declined and suggested the much younger Gresley), and in 1936 he was awarded a knighthood by King Edward VIII and an honorary
DSc by
Manchester University.
In 1936 Gresley designed the 1500V DC locomotives for the proposed electrification of the
Woodhead Line between
Manchester and
Sheffield. The
Second World War forced the postponement of the project until the 1950s.
Gresley died after a short illness on
5 April 1941 and was buried in
Netherseal, Derbyshire.
He was succeeded as CME by
Edward Thompson.
Innovations
GNR
LNER
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sir Nigel Gresley'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://nigel_gresley.totallyexplained.com">Nigel Gresley Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
