The Bluebell Railway has announced that they will be welcoming steam locomotive 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley for October's Giants of Steam Gala.
Held on the 11th, 12th and 13th October, Giants of Steam will see an intensive timetable in operation.
Tickets are not yet available for the gala, but more information will be provided in the coming weeks.
Owned by the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust, 60007 is based at Crewe and operates a number of railtours each year.
Sister locomotive to the famous ‘Mallard', Sir Nigel Gresley currently appears in BR Express Blue livery.
You can see Sir Nigel Gresley in action at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in the video below
“Since we completed the last overhaul of Sir Nigel in 2022, we have mixed mainline running with several heritage railway visits. It is our objective to make Sir Nigel as widely available to our members and the public as possible which has meant visits to all corners of the country.
We were therefore delighted to be invited to the historic Bluebell railway which will give those in the South a chance to enjoy the locomotive. We still have a lot of members in the London area who remember the times in the 1980s when the engine regularly ran out of Marylebone”.
“It is wonderful that two organisations that go back to the dawn of the steam preservation era are working together for the first time”.
Nigel Wilson, Chairman of The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust
“We are delighted that A4 locomotive 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley will be headlining our Giants of Steam event between 11th and 13th October and then staying on at The Bluebell Railway to run with our beautiful Pullman dining train the weekend after the gala.
This will be the locomotive's first visit to the Bluebell Railway and the first opportunity for the locomotive to be seen on a Heritage Railway in the south for many years.
We are greatly appreciative and extend our thanks to the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust for agreeing to bring their locomotive to Sussex and we look forward to announcing more details of this year's Giants Of Steam gala in the next few months”.
Neil Glaskin: Operations Director Of The Bluebell Railway
What will happen to sir nigel gresley when his ticket expires will he return home to the north yorkshire moors railway or will he go through another long overhaul to go back onto the national network as my wife Nora and me absolutely love him deep within our
hearts and would very much love to see him make another appearance at the great Western societies home of didcot and now he is back in his br express blue livery he looks absolutely stunning and we both hope that he will stay in that colour other than the garter blue with red wheels and red nameplate with chrome /brass lettering on but other than that he looks absolutely stunning in his br express blue livery congratulations to everyone who has put in lots of time and money to make him nice and new again and to love him and cherish him for many more happy years to come from John and Nora here in kidlington in oxfordshire
Here’s hoping that the reunification of the Great Central will be completed before no.7’s boiler cert expires. It would be nice to see her there again.
SNG’s ticket expires in 2032/33 so I think it could be entirely possible at the rate that the Reunification project is going at the moment.