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London North Eastern Railway A4 Class Pacific 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley

In 1935 the London and North Eastern Railway introduced the streamlined A4 Class locomotives to the design of the then H.N. Gresley (later to be Sir). Initially introduced to haul the new Silver Jubilee express between London and Newcastle the engines were an instant success with the first of them, Silver Link, setting a new British speed record of 112mph on the first press run! Such performances were not the norm but the engines were always regarded as the racehorses of the fleet and of course on 3rd July 1938 A4 Mallard set an all time world speed record for steam traction of 126mph.

In 1937 the 100th Pacific to the designs of Gresley was built by the London and North Eastern Railway, and the railway honoured her designer by giving the locomotive his name. This loco, Sir Nigel Gresley, now bearing the British Railways number 60007, was saved from scrapping in 1966 by a small group of determined men who set up the A4 Preservation Society.

As well as its name the locomotive also became destined for preservation when on May 23rd 1959 it set a post-war world speed record of 112mph when working a special train from Doncaster to London. Since then it enjoed a period of time working in Scotland before being preserved. Working on the main line in the 1970s, 80s and 90s Steam Dreams was priveleged to be the first tour promoter to use the locomotive in the new millenium as once again thousands can enjoy this Rolls Royce of steam engines hauling their train.