19 June 2025 / For immediate release
New plaque unveiled at Doncaster Station to commemorate Sir Nigel Gresley
Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, has today (19 June) unveiled a plaque at the entrance to Doncaster station to commemorate one of the country’s greatest railway engineers, Sir Nigel Gresley, who was also born on this day in 1876.
The plaque and information board is situated close to an existing display which includes the names of many of the Gresley designed locomotives built in the nearby engineering workshops and highlights the important role Sir Nigel Gresley played in the development of Doncaster as a major railway centre.
Ben Godfrey, the grandson of Sir Nigel Gresley, said: “I am delighted that the work of my grandfather, and his importance to the great railway centre of Doncaster, is being recognised today on the date of his birth. His most famous locomotives were built here, so there is a very special family connection with Doncaster.”
Sir Nigel Gresley lived in Thorne Road, Doncaster from 1905, following his appointment as Carriage & Wagon Superintendent, and later Locomotive Engineer with the Great Northern Railway. Although he moved to London in 1923, upon becoming Chief Mechanical Engineer of the newly formed London & North Eastern Railway, the extensive workshops at Doncaster remained his responsibility.
It was here, in the famous ‘Plant’ works, that Gresley’s big ‘Pacific’ locomotives, and many others, were designed and built. These included Flying Scotsman, acknowledged as the world’s most famous steam engine, and later the streamlined A4 Pacifics. It was one of these locomotives, Mallard, driven by Joe Duddington with fireman Tommy Bray, both Doncaster men, that achieved a world speed record for steam of 126mph in 1938 – a record unrivalled to this day.
Mayor Ros Jones, said: “Doncaster has a proud connection to the railway industry and this is another splendid acknowledgment to a man who gave so much to our city. It will be a lasting reminder and attraction, to those who live in and visit Doncaster, of his ongoing influence.”
Linda Wain, Engineering Director at LNER, said: “We’re delighted to see this plaque unveiled in honour of Sir Nigel Gresley — one of Britain’s most iconic steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LNER. His legacy is deeply woven into the history of Doncaster and the wider railway industry, and it’s especially fitting to mark his contribution in this year of Railway 200, as we celebrate two centuries of rail innovation and achievement.”
Notes to Editors
For more information about the Gresley Society Trust please contact: Philip Benham (chairman@gresley.org)(07506-478097).
Creation of this commemorative display has been a partnership between:
· London North Eastern Railway
· Doncaster & District Family History Society
· The Great Northern Railway Society
More information about Sir Nigel Gresley:
Sir Nigel Gresley was born in Edinburgh on 19th June 1876, although the family home was at Netherseale in Derbyshire and it is here that he grew up. After school at Marlborough, in 1893 he became a ‘premium apprentice’ at Crewe Works on the London & North Western Railway under the autocratic Chief Mechanical Engineer Francis Webb.
The young Nigel rose rapidly through the railway industry, including a period on the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, before being appointed Carriage & Wagon Superintendent on the Great Northern Railway (GNR) in 1905. Thus began an association with this railway its successor, the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), and Doncaster, that would last for the rest of his life.
By 1911 Nigel Gresley had progressed to the top job on the GNR as Locomotive Engineer, becoming Chief Mechanical Engineer of the enlarged LNER following the ‘railway grouping’ in 1923. This meant a change of location to his new office at London’s King’s Cross station, but design and construction for most of Gresley’s locomotives and much of the rolling stock still took place in Doncaster.
While he is best known for his Pacific locomotives, Gresley’s achievements were far more than that. In all he was responsible for the design and building of 2150 locomotives, mostly built in Doncaster, and tens of thousands of carriages and wagons. His locomotives were powerful and modern, while carriages brought new standards of comfort for passengers in the Edwardian period and again in the 1920s and 1930s.
Gresley pioneered the concept of streamlined trains in Britain believing that steam could equal the achievements of the Germans who had introduced fast diesel railcars between major cities. He was proved right with first The Silver Jubilee, introduced in 1935 between London and Newcastle, and then The Coronation and The West Riding linking the England’s capital respectively with Edinburgh and the West Riding. These trains brought together streamlined locomotives of a revolutionary appearance, the A4 Pacifics, with streamlined carriages – including such innovations as a form of air-conditioning and, for The Coronation,an observation car.
Sir Nigel Gresley was knighted for his career achievements in 1936. He died at home unexpectedly on 5th April 1941 at the age of 65 while still in office with the LNER.
