The N2 Overhaul Completion Club launched to raise £100,000

Doncaster, UK – 5 January 2025: The Gresley Society is delighted to announce that the oldest surviving locomotive to the design of Sir Nigel Gresley has moved to the North Norfolk Railway (NNR) to complete its overhaul. The Society’s class N2 GNR No.1744 was withdrawn from service late in 2018for an overhaul that has proved to be considerably more extensive and costly than anticipated. This move is the next step towards its anticipated return to traffic in Spring 2025.

The overhaul began in 2019 but was soon impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown and the war in Ukraine which affected both timescales and costs.Even more significantly, once the locomotive was stripped down, it became evident that far more work was needed than first anticipated. This has meant an extensive programme of both mechanical and boiler workleading to eventual overhaul cost of around £650,000.  

The steam test of the boilersuccessfully completed on Tuesday 8 October 2024at the works of Northern Steam Engineering at Thornabyand the locomotive partially re-assembled for transport to the NNR’s workshops at Weybourne on Thursday 12 December 2024 where the overhaul will now be completed. The NNR has generously agreed to initially fund this work, with the value reimbursed later through operation of the locomotive for a period without charge.

However, The Gresley Society still faces a substantial funding shortfall to meet the final overhaul cost and has launched The N2 Overhaul Completion Club to raise the required £100,000 from 100 members each donating £1,000 in up to eight instalments. Special benefits for those supporting the club include:

• Certificate signed by John Cameron (President) and Philip Benham (Chairman)
• Exclusive opportunity to visit No. 1744 under overhaul at the NNR
• Opportunity to buy a ticket (seat already reserved) on one of the first trains hauled by No. 1744
• Exclusive Limited Edition print (100) of No. 1744 in GNR livery by Matthew Cousins (GRA) 
• One year’s free membership of The Gresley Society Trust

The Club was launched to Gresley Society Members in late November 2024 and has already raised £17,750 from existing members. Details of how to join The N2 Overhaul Completion Club can be found on Gresley.org.

Philip Benham MBE, Chairman of The Gresley Society, commented: 

“This is really good news for the future of No 1744, Sir Nigel Gresley’s oldest surviving locomotive. The Society was created to preserve a working Gresley locomotive, and we owe it to our founders, and for the benefit and education of today’s generation, to maintain that vision. The move to the North Norfolk Railway is one more step towards No. 1744’s return to traffic in Spring 2025 resplendent in its distinctive Great Northern Railway livery.

“I wish to thank Northern Steam Engineering, who have shown great flexibility in agreeing how their work programme on the class N2 could be brought to an orderly close, and the North Norfolk Railway for their positive and constructive approach to the funding problem they could see we faced.

“However, The Gresley Society is not yet out of the woods financially and has therefore launched a major £100,000 financial appeal with The N2 Overhaul Completion Club to fund No. 1744’s return to traffic. I’d encourage all LNER lovers who want to see the class N2 paired once again with the Midland & Great Northern Society’s unique set of Quad-Art carriages to get on board with our appeal!”

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Notes to Editors

• Class N2 No.1744 (LNER No 4744) is the oldest surviving locomotive to the design of Sir Nigel Gresley, and also the oldest one to have steamed in the preservation era, having first emerged from the North British Locomotive works in February 1921. It is also the only remaining Gresley tank engine. As No 69523, it was purchased into preservation by the Gresley Society in 1963. Over the years, the N2 has been based on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway and the Great Central Railway, before coming to the locomotive’s present home on the North Norfolk Railway early in 2017.

• The programme of work during the current overhaul has included:

Mechanical New driving wheel and pony truck tyres New crankpin New expansion links  New safety valve bodies  New blast pipe cap Reverser repairs and replacement screw Axle-box and horn repairs Valve and piston examine

Boiler New front boiler ring  New front and firebox tubeplates New firebox wrapper, top corners and back-head patch Manufacture of new superheater tubes and repair header Manufacturer and fitting of new crown and other stays

• The Gresley Society Trust is a charitable trust whose purpose is to study, educate and celebrate the life and works of Sir Nigel Gresley in particular, and the works and achievements of the London &North Eastern Railway in general.

• Enquiries about membership of the Gresley Society, and donations by cheque, payable to The Gresley Society Trust, should be addressed to: Chris Nettleton, Membership Secretary, 96 Greenfield Drive, Eaglescliffe, TS16 0HN. Details of how to donate on line by credit/debit card and PayPal, or by bank transfer can be found on the Society’s website www.gresley.org.

Issued on behalf of the The Gresley Society Trust (www.gresley.org)

For more information, please contact: 

Ian MacCabe (, 07583 988406) or Mark Allatt (; 07710 878979).