There will be NO Duck!

There is a debate raging in the UK at the moment that seems to have escaped the attention of the world press and thus our very own Automologist, MAC, feels that it is his duty to bring this to the attention of, at least, our readers at Automology.

The Nigel Gresley Society in the UK has just unveiled the long awaited statue of Sir Nigel at King’s Cross Station without the Duck, much to the outrage of most of the members of the society. Apparently, two of Sir Nigel’s grandsons thought that the original statue with the Duck at his feet was demeaning and thus it was removed from the statue before the official unveiling, an act that is threatening to derail the entire Gresley Society and has lead to the resignation of three of the trustees. Fans have now pledged to continuously add rubber ducks to the statue until the original duck is restored.

Okay, at this point you may think that I have finally lost my grip on reality, but in a way this is a big thing - so big that both the BBC and Times of London have carried the story. Sir Nigel Gresley was a pioneering railway engineer from Derbyshire, England, whose designs and innovations are still used on modern rail systems.

However, possibly his most famous creation was the Mallard – no, not a small duck commonly found in Northern Europe - but a sleek streamlined steam-powered locomotive, the likes of which the world had never seen before and the first locomotive to travel at 120 mph (about 193 kph), an unthinkable speed back in 1938 when the mark was set.

The Mallard working up a head of speed.

Sir Nigel was a keen ornithologist and famously raised a water fowl at home; as a result, many of his locomotives carried the names of ducks, including the most famous of the bunch, the Mallard. The statue was unveiled on the 75th anniversary of Sir Nigel’s death, and just a few yards from the office that he occupied for many years. And you thought that this was just a car blog.

I like the Duck. Please bring it back.