Sir Nigel Gresley returns to revenue-earning service

After six years and a £1 million overhaul, Sir Nigel Gresley returned to revenue-earning service at the Severn Valley Railway’s Spring Steam Gala.

A short midday ceremony at Kidderminster station was held to mark the occasion.

Sir Nigel Gresley, brother of world speed record holder Mallard, is now the only operational A4 locomotive; the other surviving members of the class are unlikely to return to steam in the next few years, and in many cases will never steam again. Sir Nigel is owned by a charitable trust committed to keeping it steaming as long as is possible.

It ran at the Severn Valley Railways Spring Steam Gala between 21 and 24 April and is now being relocated to the Locomotive Services Group depot at Crewe, where it will be prepared for main line trips from May onwards.

The overhaul, which started in late 2015, was completed in March this year prior to a period of running in at the SVR. The loco is currently in a temporary livery of LNER black, which it carried in the 1940s. Later this year, it will be repainted in British Railways express passenger blue and returned to its other running number of 60007.

The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust Ltd purchased the locomotive from British Railways in 1966 and has been maintaining and operating it ever since.

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