‘Gresley’s’ boiler off to Llangollen

The boiler of ‘A4’ No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley will be sent to the Lllangollen Railway for overhaul, the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust announced on October 26.


Fresh from being shot-blasted, the distinctive boiler of ‘A4’ No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley stands in the North Yard at the National Railway Museum in York, awaiting dispatch to the Llangollen Railway for overhaul. TREVOR CAMP


Currently based at the National Railway Museum’s workshops in York, the LNER 4-6-2’s boiler was lifted from the locomotive’s frames on March 24. CME Richard Swales said, following a full NDT inspection: “the boiler was found to be in pretty good condition, the firebox tubeplate needs replacing but we knew about that, overall nothing unexpected was uncovered.”

Believed to be the biggest boiler the Llangollen Railway workshop has ever overhauled, it is expected to depart for the North Wales railway “very shortly”. The work is expected to take 12 months.

SNGLT Marketing Director, Tod Slaughter, says: “Although it may seem a long time since the boiler lift, the team have used that time to strip, clean and assess the boiler which will save significant cost.”

Locomotive Engineer Darrin Crone notes: “We’ve done things a little differently to some other teams but so far things have gone well and the project is on schedule.”

Meanwhile, the overhaul of Sir Nigel Gresley’s frames and tender continues apace at the NRM’s workshops, whilst No. 60007’s driving wheelsets are receiving attention South Devon Railway Engineering. It is hoped these will be returned to York in January.

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