Hazel Reeves and Gresley Statue 1 – photo by Roger Bamber

Picture by Roger Bamber : 04 January 2016 : The statue about to arrive at King's Cross Station: Sculptor Hazel Reeves works on the clay moulding of the statue of Sir Nigel Gresley, the designer of the fastest steam locomotive in the world, the LNER's Class A4 N0. 4468 "Mallard" and also the famous A3, "Flying Scotsman" in her Billingshurst studio, Sussex. This statue of the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, North Eastern Railway is about to be cast in bronze and placed on the platform at London's Kings Cross railway station on April 5th 2016. The controversial £95,000 statue commissioned by The Gresley Society was originally designed to have a Mallard duck at Sir Nigels feet but the duck was controversially dropped because his grandsons thought it made him look ridiculous. The streamlined steam locomotive achieved a speed of 126 mph in 1938.