Two Gresleys in steam at KX statue unveiling
They will be part of the celebrations to mark the unveiling of the bronze statue to the LNER chief engineer and Flying Scotsman designer, which is booked to be performed by Network Rail Chairman Sir Peter Hendy. The statue - which controversially does not have a mallard duck at Gresley’s feet as first intended - was due to be cast at an East London foundry in January. In a complex manoeuvre, ‘N2’ No. 1744 will be delivered to Bounds Green depot, just north of Hornsey, - where many of the class appeared while based at King’s Cross Top Shed - and then towed to the terminus in light steam, but not working. The engine, completed by North British in 1921, worked in the London area until the start of the 1960s (as BR No. 69523), and is now based at the Great Central Railway at Loughborough. While John Cameron’s ‘A4’ 4-6-2 No. 60009 Union of South Africa has made regular return visits to ‘The Cross’ in preservation, the addition of a wooden-bodied teak coach is a most rare event. The vehicle selected is 1936 Kitchen Composite No. 7960 (ex-9162 and Departmental No. DE321021) from the Severn Valley Railway. Tantalisingly, it is understood that the Gresley ‘Quad Art’ set from the North Norfolk Railway was considered, and while a rail move was feasible it would have been a complex operation because of inspections and maintenance regimes required for vehicles awat from the main line for over half a century. The Bluebell Railway’s SECR ‘C’ No. 592 is at the ‘Cross in February for a filming contract.
SIR NIGEL Gresley’s solesurviving ‘N2’ suburban 0-6-2T, a design associated with King’s Cross commuter travel for over 40 years, is to return to the terminus on the morning of April 5 - with a restored Gresley teak coach and an ‘A4’ class ‘Pacific’.