Sir Nigel Gresley was born in Edinburgh on 19 June 1876. He was the youngest of five children and his real name was Herbert Nigel Gresley.

When he left school in 1893 he went to work at the Crewe locomotive works of the London and North Western Railway. He worked there until 1898 when he moved to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to learn more about design.Over the next few years at Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Nigel Gresley had lots of different jobs. He became the foreman of the Blackpool running sheds in 1899, and then moved to the Newton Heath carriage works the next year. By 1904, Nigel Gresley had become the Assistant Superintendent of Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway’s Carriage and Wagon department. In 1905 Nigel Gresley left the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to become the Superintendent of Great Northern Railway’s Carriage and Wagon department and in 1911 was promoted to Chief Mechanical Engineer.

Nigel Gresley moved again in 1923, this time to the London and North Eastern Railway, where his work as Chief Mechanical Engineer made him one of the best known locomotive designers in the world. His most famous designs were The Flying Scotsman and Mallard. Mallard still holds the world speed record for steam locomotives – 126 miles per hour, which was set in 1938.

Sir Nigel Gresley (he was knighted in 1936) died of a heart attack in on 5 April 1941, two months before he was due to retire.