60007 Sir Nigel Gresley on a cold, wet day in October. A superb example of an LNER A4 Pacific in preservation. Photographed early in the morning in a less than perfect aspect, in very less than perfect conditions. It was a great pleasure to see and experience it never-the-less.

The originally numbered 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley was the 100th Gresley Pacific built by the Great Northern Railway whichlater became the London and North Eastern Railway. Built at the Doncaster Works the locomotive first entered service in 1937. 

It was briefly re-numbered as number 7 before becoming number 60007 when the LNER was absorbed into British Railways. 

In May of 1959 as 60007 it set the official post-war speed record for steam traction of 112 mph not bad for its time, though now-a-days it is restricted to 25mph on heritage lines.

Not-with-standing this, it was given the chance to show its power over the 1-in-60 climb of the ‘Alps’ either side of Medstead and Four Marks station on its visit to the Watercress Line.

60007 Sir Nigel Gresley remains to this day a thing of both elegance and raw power, beautifully engineered and superbly maintained.