When the London & North Eastern Railway was created in the 'grouping' of 1923, the new company's directors needed a capable and experienced Chief Mechanical Engineer to oversee the creation of a new generation of modern locomotives and rolling stock. The man they turned to was Herbert Gresley, CME of one of the LNER's constituents, the Great Northern Railway, and what a wise choice it was. Gresley and his draftsmen drew up a series of big powerful express passenger locomotives to bring high-speed rail travel to the East Coast Main Line, culminating in the streamlined A4 pacifics which rewrote the record books. In 1936 Gresley was knighted for his achievements, confusingly adopting his middle name to style himself 'Sir Nigel', and in 1938 his A4 loco 4468 'Mallard' made its famous 126mph sprint down Stoke Bank to set a world steam speed record which still stands to this day.
These locomotives needed suitable passenger stock for the glamorous high-speed trains, of course, and the ageing vehicles which the LNER inherited didn't really fit the modern image. A new fleet was needed for this new dawn, and Gresley and his boys rose to the challenge admirably. Their designs combined the best of old and new to create the ultimate in 1930s comfort and style, resplendent in the varnished teak so characteristic of the East Coast line in railways' Golden Age. It couldn't last, of course, and the war brought an end to railway glamour and style and speed records. The post-war era brought an end to the LNER, absorbed into British Railways, and the teak vanished under BR's crimson & cream. By the late 1950s BR had built its own fleet of new modern carriages for its top trains, and Gresley's coaches were elbowed off the main line onto secondary routes and branchlines. You couldn't keep a good design down though, and the Gresleys gave yeoman service in their new role. Some even survived into the 1970s, wearing the corporate blue & grey, and were the last wooden-bodied coaches on British Railways. Our models show the coaches in the maroon livery of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The coach roof unclips to reveal a detailed interior, even including the brake control wheel in the guard's compartment. The seats are correctly represented as blue in First Class and red in Second.
It's been a long time since the branchlines of the Eastern Region saw a steam-hauled passenger service. Recreate this bygone scene on your layout with our Gresley Branchline Set.