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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from The Great Northern Railway Society, Railroad Company, London.

The official Great Northern Railway Society (www.gnrsociety.com) page, dedicated to Great Northern Railway knowledge & research, a place for Society members & non-members to share & learn more about the GNR and its place in pre-Grouping railways.

29/04/2026

We had a request from Med Gillz to post pics of the GNR A1s, so here are some. There were only two true A1s during the time of the GNR, both appearing only just before the 1923 Grouping, when the GNR became part of the LNER, one of the Big Four railway companies. These photos are all of the very first one to be built, GNR 1470 Great Northern. This was the first successful Pacific (with the wheel formation 4-6-2) in the UK. These pictures are from 1922 and 1923, when Great Northern was new and something of a celebrity. The next A1 to be built, 1471 Sir Frederick Banbury, was the last A1 to appear in GNR livery, as the next in the series - 1472 - appeared in February 1923 in LNER livery, after the Grouping. It was renumbered 4472 a year later, and also given the name Flying Scotsman, becoming in due course the sole survivor of the class and one of the most famous locos in the world!

27/04/2026

Happy Monday everyone, and we start the week with a rather magnificent photo of some carriages for a change, an ECJS set of clerestories, with the leading coach a Diagram 50 Brake Third. Three of this diagram were built in 1896-7, vehicle No's 262, 263, 264:

24/04/2026

Happy Friday everyone, as we reach the end of another week and we can almost smell the weekend! Here's a pic of GNR Atlantic 4-4-2 No. 3286 hauling a train all or mainly 6-wheelers. The loco's pretty grimy which makes the livery - and the date - difficult to determine. Early is a little unlikely, as the GNR kept its locos - especially the main line passenger express ones - in fairly clean condition. It's possible this is from the grey livery WWI era, where all locos - even main line expresses - were painted dark grey for wartime economy reasons. Some also had single white lining but that's clearly not visible here and maintenance rotas were of course also not as regular as they'd have been in peace time. It may also be quite a bit later in the 1920s or even perhaps 30s, as 6-wheelers were sent to be used on quieter lines, as the main line coaching stock was upgraded to more modern bogie 8 and 12 wheel carriages. That might be borne out by the 6th vehicle, which might be an 8-wheeler, though it could possibly be an articulated 6-wheeler pair. The 7the vehicle looks to be something different too, with a higher roof profile than the rest, but it's difficult to see in more detail...

20/04/2026

Happy Monday everyone, a lovely sunny Monday too, so let's start the week with a picture that looks to us to have been taken on a sunny morning too, of GNR Stirling 8ft 4-2-2 No. 664 on a level crossing, but all that's visible of the station name is "...ARNBY". The only similar name I've found so far is Barnby Moor and Sutton - any other ideas?

13/04/2026

Happy Monday everyone, and another early loco photo, GNR Stirling 0-4-2 No. 28. Going by the look of the photo, the livery and the crews' facial hair, probably c. 1890:

10/04/2026

Happy Friday everyone, and in support of the health benefits of milk, here's a photo of GNR Small Atlantic 4-4-2 No. 982 near Potters Bar on a milk train, probably shortly after WWI:

07/04/2026

Hope everyone had a good Easter? To kick off this week, here's an undated picture of GNR 0-6-0T No. 161, GNR Class J23, built between 1913 and 1922. It's seen here in the freight grey livery that was first used by the GNR from December 1912 for cost cutting reasons, but the use of an economical single colour with only basic white lining was then continued after the start of WWI and extended to almost all classes other than some premier passenger express locos. Some locos had very basic single white lining around side tanks and sometimes bunkers, some were unlined. The return to two colour GNR green livery was done over several years, from 1918 to pretty much the end of the GNR period in 1922, and this photo - given the other details - is probably just post-war.

30/03/2026

Happy Monday everyone, and we start off the week with a nice early photo of GNR Stirling 0-4-2 No. 30, looks like latter quarter of the 19th century to me but can anyone suggest a more definite date?

27/03/2026

Happy Friday everyone, and here's a photo of a proud loco crew in front of their GNR 0-6-2T N2, No. 1756, in what I'd guess is late afternoon sunshine:

23/03/2026

Happy Monday everyone, let's kick the week off with this striking photo of GNR H4 2-6-0 No. 1655, with the original style Gresley GNR cab still in place. The faded lighting effect and the misty appearance of the shed behind the loco give this a very atmospheric look:

21/03/2026

On the way back from the National Railway Modelling Festival at Ally Pally - where Steve White was on the GNRS stand - and waiting for my train at Ally Pally station:

16/03/2026

A bit of a grey day here in the capital, so let's take a moment to enjoy this quietly contemplative image of GNR crossing keeper John William Winter at Kirkstead Bridge, undated but presumably around the turn of the 20th century, give or take...

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