Sir Nigel Gresley sidelined to fix steam problem

LNER A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley has been withdrawn from service after an intermittent problem was reported in which steam appeared to be passing the regulator.

The locomotive, which underwent running-in on the Severn Valley Railway following its £1 million overhaul, successfully completed its first full passenger-carrying comeback tour on May 21 running from Crew to Carlisle, as reported last issue.

However, the problem was highlighted during the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust’s assessment of the A4’s performances.

Cause traced

A trust statement said:“The root cause of the issue has now been traced to the joint between the main steam pipe and the front tubeplate or possibly the tubeplate end of the steam pipe itself. Although this should be relatively easy to remedy, the work requires a significant amount of disassembly in the smokebox. The necessary work is already underway, however, as a result, the locomotive will not be available for further operation until later this summer.”

The statement said that the work was not expected to impact on the locomotive’s planned visit to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where it is booked to appear at the September 22-25 autumn steam gala.

Repaint delayed

However, its repaint from wartime black into BR blue has been postponed. “Timing of this will be reassessed in due course and a decision taken based on the speed of progress with the repair and operational requirements,” said the statement.

“The trust expects Sir Nigel Gresley to be in traffic later in the summer as in every other respect the locomotive has performed superbly during trials and on the inaugural tour. We will advise plans for railtours in due course.”