Trip down tracks of genius’s years

A new exhibition celebrates the achievements of railway engineer Sir Nigel Gresley, whose Flying Scotsman and Mallard locomotive steam engines were built in Doncaster. Phil Penfold gets a sneak peek.

THERE are hundreds of photographs. Some portraits. A statue on the concourse of King’s Cross Station. A few newsreels. But there is not a single recorded second of the great man’s voice. Not the shortest of clips from the vast archives of the BBC, or of Pathé or Gaumont British News.

Since this man was one of the world’s leading engineers, who lived well into the age of sound, the omission is astonishing.

So, listening to Sir Nigel Gresley won’t be a pleasure for visitors to a new exhibition featuring his life and work. But they will be astonished at what else they’ll find – a treasure trove of artefacts that reveal the man and his genius, his skills, his personal life, and his amazing career. There’s much to enjoy – and a few tantalising mysteries to solve, as well.

The Edinburgh-born railway engineer was chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway and famously designed the Flying Scotsman and Mallard steam locomotives, both built in Doncaster where the exhibition will be held. One of the main exhibits is a fine portrait of Sir Nigel, painted by Sheffield artist William Ramsden Brealey. He specialised in portraits of the leading men and women of the day, and his works can be found in galleries across the country.

Brealey painted one of Sir Nigel in 1938, and he is shown sitting at his desk, papers in front of him, a signet ring on his finger, and a crisp white folded hankie in his jacket pocket.

But no-one quite knows the entire history of Brealey’s other portrait in the exhibition.

As Neil McGregor, of Doncaster’s Danum

Art Galley and Museum points out, if you look very closely, you’ll see faint pencil marks which mark out the shape of the nose, and others which indicate that the artist marked it all out in squares before paint was applied. Was it created from a photograph, rather than an actual sitting? And, while it was owned by the Gresley family for many years (it will now be part of Danum’s own collection), who commissioned it in the first place? Was it the old LNER, and why would the company pass it on to the family? Was it after his death on April 5, 1941,

PIONEER: An exhibition at the Danum Gallery celebrates the life of Sir Nigel Gresley. Right, Simon Ward, Philip Benham Chris Barron and Chris Nettleton with a portrait of the engineer.