SIR NIGEL GRESLEY
There are probably few if any Rotarians who have had a mainline
railway steam engine named after them, particularly one which
they designed themselves. Sir Nigel Gresley is certainly one. In
1921 when the Doncaster Rotary Club was chartered, Gresley was
working as Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Northern
Railway based in the town. A founder member of the club, he was
elected as one of the first two Vice Presidents.
 Two
years later, the railways of Britain were re-organised into four
main companies and the GNR became part of the new London and
North Eastern Railway. Nigel Gresley was appointed Chief
Mechanical Engineer of the new company and in that capacity had
to move to London, relinquishing his membership of the Doncaster
Club. However, he continued to maintain connections with
Doncaster until his death in 1941 at the age of 67. Among the
locomotives which he designed were, and indeed still are,
'Flying Scotsman', the steam engine record holder 'Mallard' and
the streamlin ed
pacific, the 100th to be built at Doncaster, which was called
'Sir Nigel Gresley' in his honour.
Historian Basil Lewis
26 October 2005
Another article on
Rotary and the
Railroads
Sir Nigel Gresley
on the North Yorks Moors Railway
photo by Trevor Hammond.
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