Designer of Doncaster's Flying Scotsman Sir Nigel Gresley’s oldest locomotive on the move to complete overhaul

The Society’s class N2 GNR No.1744 was withdrawn from service late in 2018 for an overhaul that has proved to be considerably more extensive and costly than anticipated.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 much more work was needed than first anticipated. This has meant an extensive programme of both mechanical and boiler work leading to eventual overhaul cost of around £650,000.

The steam test of the boiler successfully completed on Tuesday 8 October 2024 at 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 what 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!”

*Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley CBE was a British railway engineer. He was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).

He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the LNER Class A1 and LNER Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific engines. An A1 Pacific, Flying Scotsman, was the first steam locomotive officially recorded over 100 mph in passenger service, and an A4, number 4468 Mallard, still holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world (126 mph).