LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
Encyclopedia
The LNER Class A3 Pacific
locomotive
No. 4472 Flying Scotsman (originally No. 1472) was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway
(LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley
. It was employed on long-distance express trains on the LNER and its successors, British Railways Eastern and North-Eastern Regions, notably on the 10am London to Edinburgh Flying Scotsman
service after which it was named. In its career 4472 Flying Scotsman has covered more than 2000000 miles (3,218,680 km).
(GNR). It was built as an A1
, initially carrying the GNR number 1472, because the LNER had not yet decided on a system-wide numbering scheme.
Flying Scotsman was something of a flagship locomotive for the LNER. It represented the company at the British Empire Exhibition
at Wembley
in 1924 and 1925. Prior to this event, in February 1924 it acquired its name and the new number of 4472. From then on it was commonly used for promotional purposes.
With suitably modified valve gear
, this locomotive was one of five Gresley Pacifics selected to haul the prestigious non-stop Flying Scotsman
train service from London
to Edinburgh
, hauling the inaugural train on 1 May 1928. For this the locomotives ran with a new version of the large eight-wheel tender which held 9 tons
of coal. This and the usual facility for water replenishment from the water trough system enabled them to travel the 392 miles (630.9 km) from London
to Edinburgh
in eight hours non-stop. The tender included a corridor connection
and tunnel through the water tank giving access to the locomotive cab from the train to permit replacement of the driver and fireman without stopping the train. The following year the locomotive appeared in the film The Flying Scotsman
. On 30 November 1934, running a light test train, 4472 became the first steam locomotive to be officially recorded at 100 mi/h and earned a place in the Land speed record for railed vehicles
; the publicity-conscious LNER made much of the fact.
On 22 August 1928, there appeared an improved version of this Pacific type classified A3; older A1 locomotives were later rebuilt to conform. On 25 April 1945, A1-class locomotives not yet rebuilt were reclassified A10 in order to make way for newer Thompson
and Peppercorn Pacifics
. Flying Scotsman emerged from Doncaster works on 4 January 1947 as an A3, having received a boiler with the long "banjo" dome of the type it carries today. By this time it had been renumbered twice: under Edward Thompson's
comprehensive renumbering scheme for the LNER, it became no. 502 in January 1946; but in May the same year, under an amendment to that plan, it become no. 103. Following nationalisation of the railways on 1 January 1948, almost all of the LNER locomotive numbers were increased by 60000, and no. 103 duly became 60103 in December 1948.
Between 5 June 1950 and 4 July 1954, and between 26 December 1954 and 1 September 1957, under British Railways ownership, it was allocated to Leicester Central shed on the Great Central, running Nottingham Victoria to London Marylebone services via Leicester Central, and hauled one of the last services on that line before its closure..
All A3 Pacifics were subsequently fitted with a double Kylchap
chimney to improve performance and economy. This caused soft exhaust and smoke drift that tended to obscure the driver's forward vision; the remedy was found in the German-type smoke deflectors fitted from 1960, which somewhat changed the locomotives' appearance but solved the problem.
ways in January 1963 and was sold for preservation to Alan Pegler
, who had it restored at Darlington Works
as closely as possible to its LNER condition: the smoke deflectors were removed, the double chimney was replaced by a single chimney, and the tender
was replaced by one of the corridor type with which the locomotive had run between 1928 and 1936. It was also repainted into LNER livery, although the cylinder sides were painted green, whereas in LNER days they were always black. It then worked a number of railtours, including a non-stop London–Edinburgh run in 1968 – the year steam traction officially ended on BR. In the meantime, the watering facilities for locomotives were disappearing, so in September 1966 Pegler purchased a second corridor tender, and adapted as an auxiliary water tank; retaining its through gangway, this was coupled behind the normal tender.
Pegler had a contract permitting him to run his locomotive on BR until 1972, but following overhaul in the winter of 1968–69 it went on a promotional tour to the USA, for which it was fitted with cowcatcher, bell, buckeye couplings, American-style whistle, air brakes and high-intensity headlamp. The trip was initially a success, but when Pegler's backers withdrew their support he began to lose money and was finally bankrupted in 1972.
Fears then arose for the engine's future, the speculation being that it could take up permanent residence in America or even be cut up. After Alan Bloom
made a personal phone call to him in January 1973, William McAlpine
stepped in and bought the locomotive for £25,000 direct from the finance company in San Francisco docks. After its return to the UK via the Panama Canal
in February 1973, McAlpine paid for the locomotive's restoration at Derby Works
. Trial runs took place on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
in summer 1973, after which it was transferred to Steamtown (Carnforth)
, from where it steamed on various tours.
In October 1988 the locomotive arrived in Australia
to take part in that country's bicentenary
celebrations and during the course of the next year it travelled more than 45000 kilometres (27,961.8 mi) over Australian rails, including a transcontinental run from Sydney
to Perth
. It was a central attraction in the Aus Steam '88
festival, double heading with NSWGR locomotive 3801, and running alongside Victorian Railways R class
locomotives along the 300 km (186.4 mi)-long parallel broad
and standard gauge
tracks of the North East railway line, Victoria. The Flying Scotsman stayed in Victoria for two months before heading back to New South Wales. On 8 August 1989 Flying Scotsman set another record, travelling 442 miles (711.3 km) from Parkes
to Broken Hill non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded. A plaque on the engine records the event.
Returned to the UK, by 1995 it was in pieces at Southall Railway Centre
in West London, owned by a consortia that included McAlpine as well as music guru and well-known railway enthusiast Pete Waterman
. Facing an uncertain future owing to the cost of restoration and refurbishment necessary to meet the stringent engineering standards required for main line operation, salvation came in 1996 when Dr Tony Marchington
bought the locomotive, and had it restored over three years to running condition at a cost of £1 million. Marchington's time with the Flying Scotsman was documented in two films, the BBC
's A Gambol on Steam, and the later Channel 4
programme A Steamy Affair: The Story of Flying Scotsman.
With Flying Scotsman's regular use on the VSOE Pullman, in 2002, Marchington proposed a business plan, which included the construction of a "Flying Scotman Village" in Edinburgh
, to create revenue from associated branding. After floating on OFEX as Flying Scotsman plc in the same year, in 2003 Edinburgh City Council turned down the village plans, and in September 2003 Marchington was declared bankrupt. At the company's AGM in October 2003, CEO Peter Butler
announced losses of £474,619, and with a £1.5 million overdraft at Barclays Bank, stated that the company only had enough cash to trade until April 2004. The company's shares were suspended from OFEX on 3 November 2003 after it had failed to declare interim results.
With the locomotive effectively placed up for sale, after a high-profile national campaign it was bought in April 2004 by the National Railway Museum
in York
, and it is now part of the National Collection. After 12 months of interim running repairs, it ran for a while to raise funds for its forthcoming 10-year major boiler recertification.
In late 2005, Flying Scotsman entered the Museum's workshops for a major overhaul to mainline running standard; originally planned to be completed by mid 2010 if sufficient funds were raised, but late discovery of additional problems meant it would not be completed until late spring 2012. The bay in which the locomotive was being refurbished was on view to visitors to the NRM but the engine was rapidly dismantled to such an extent that the running plate was the only component recognisable to the casual observer. Early in 2009 it emerged that the overhaul would see the loco reunited with the last remaining genuine A3 boiler (acquired at the same time as the locomotive as a spare). The A4 boiler that the loco had used since the early 1980s was sold to Jeremy Hosking
for potential use on his locomotive, LNER Class A4 4464 Bittern
.
Choice of livery is an emotive subject amongst some of those involved in the preservation of historic rolling stock, and Flying Scotsman has attracted more than its fair share as a result of 40 years continuous service, during which the locomotive underwent several changes to its livery.
Alan Pegler's preferred option was evidently to return the locomotive as far as possible to the general appearance and distinctive colour it carried at the height of its fame in the 1930s. A later option was to re-install the double Kylchap
chimney and German smoke deflectors that it carried at the end of its career in the 1960s, which encouraged more complete combustion, a factor in dealing with smoke pollution and fires caused by spark throwing.
More recently, until its current overhaul it was running in a hybrid form, retaining the modernised exhaust arrangements while carrying the LNER 'Apple Green' livery of the 1930s. Some believe that the more famous LNER colour scheme should remain, while others take the view that, to be authentic, only BR livery should be used when the loco is carrying these later additions. The subject is further complicated by the fact that, while in BR livery, the locomotive never ran with its corridor tender.
The National Railway Museum (NRM) announced on 15 February 2011, that Flying Scotsman will be painted in LNER Wartime Black livery when it undergoes its steam tests and commissioning runs. The letters 'NE' appear on the sides of the tender, along with the number '103' on one side of the cab and '502' on the other - the numbers it was given under the LNER's renumbering system. Flying Scotsman will be repainted in its familiar-look Apple Green livery in the summer, but remained in black for the NRM's Flying Scotsman Preview Weekend which took place on 28–30 May 2011.
, which featured an entire sequence set aboard the locomotive.
Flying Scotsman was featured in The Railway Series
books by the Rev. W. Awdry. The locomotive visited the fictional Island of Sodor in the book Enterprising Engines. At this time it had two tenders, and this was a key feature of the plot of one of the stories, "Tenders for Henry". When the story was filmed for the television series Thomas & Friends, renamed as "Tender Engines" only Flying Scotsman's two tenders were seen outside a shed. He originally intended to have a larger role in this episode, but due to budgetary constraints ,the modelling crew could not afford to build the whole engine.
Flying Scotsman is featured in the PC game Microsoft Train Simulator
. The locomotive is also included in the 2004 & 2006 edition of Trainz
Railroad Simulator.
RailSimulator.com, developers of the simulator RailWorks, released a model and associated activities for the simulator on 5 November 2010.
Flying Scotsman featured in the film 102 Dalmatians
, pulling the Orient Express
out of London.
Flying Scotsman made a short appearance in an episode of the '60s spy show Danger Man
episode "The Sanctuary".
The locomotive was the first choice for the "Top Gear Race to the North
", though due to an overhaul was unable to attend, so the position went to LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
instead.
A model of the Flying Scotsman appeared in Episode 6 and The Great Train Race episodes of James May's Toy Stories
. It was James May
s personal childhood model and was chosen by him to complete a world record for the longest model railway. The train was meant to travel 7 miles from Barnstaple
to Bideford
, in North Devon
and it failed early in the trip in Episode 6 but managed to complete it in The Great Train Race.
The locomotive also appeared in the animated film, "The Illusionist" (2010) adapted and directed by Sylvain Chomet from a screenplay by Jacques Tati. The film, set in Edinburgh in the early 1960s shows 4472, with smoke deflectors, leaving Waverley Station with the eponymous hero aboard.
4-6-2
4-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
No. 4472 Flying Scotsman (originally No. 1472) was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
(LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley
Nigel Gresley
Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway . He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the LNER Class A1 and LNER Class A4...
. It was employed on long-distance express trains on the LNER and its successors, British Railways Eastern and North-Eastern Regions, notably on the 10am London to Edinburgh Flying Scotsman
Flying Scotsman (train)
The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...
service after which it was named. In its career 4472 Flying Scotsman has covered more than 2000000 miles (3,218,680 km).
History
The locomotive was completed in 1923, construction having been started under the auspices of the Great Northern RailwayGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
(GNR). It was built as an A1
LNER Class A1/A3
The London and North Eastern Railway LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley...
, initially carrying the GNR number 1472, because the LNER had not yet decided on a system-wide numbering scheme.
Flying Scotsman was something of a flagship locomotive for the LNER. It represented the company at the British Empire Exhibition
British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley, Middlesex in 1924 and 1925.-History:It was opened by King George V on St George's Day, 23 April 1924. The British Empire contained 58 countries at that time, and only Gambia and Gibraltar did not take part...
at Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
in 1924 and 1925. Prior to this event, in February 1924 it acquired its name and the new number of 4472. From then on it was commonly used for promotional purposes.
With suitably modified valve gear
Valve gear
The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle...
, this locomotive was one of five Gresley Pacifics selected to haul the prestigious non-stop Flying Scotsman
Flying Scotsman (train)
The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...
train service from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, hauling the inaugural train on 1 May 1928. For this the locomotives ran with a new version of the large eight-wheel tender which held 9 tons
Long ton
Long ton is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. It has been mostly replaced by the tonne, and in the United States by the short ton...
of coal. This and the usual facility for water replenishment from the water trough system enabled them to travel the 392 miles (630.9 km) from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in eight hours non-stop. The tender included a corridor connection
Corridor connection
A Corridor connection is a flexible connector fitted to the end of a railway coach to enable passage from one coach to another without falling out of the train.-Coaches:...
and tunnel through the water tank giving access to the locomotive cab from the train to permit replacement of the driver and fireman without stopping the train. The following year the locomotive appeared in the film The Flying Scotsman
The Flying Scotsman (1929 film)
The Flying Scotsman is a 1929 black and white film set on the Flying Scotsman train from London to Edinburgh, also featuring the famous locomotive LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman...
. On 30 November 1934, running a light test train, 4472 became the first steam locomotive to be officially recorded at 100 mi/h and earned a place in the Land speed record for railed vehicles
Land speed record for railed vehicles
Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".Official absolute world record for conventional train is held by the French TGV...
; the publicity-conscious LNER made much of the fact.
On 22 August 1928, there appeared an improved version of this Pacific type classified A3; older A1 locomotives were later rebuilt to conform. On 25 April 1945, A1-class locomotives not yet rebuilt were reclassified A10 in order to make way for newer Thompson
Edward Thompson (engineer)
Edward Thompson was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway between 1941 and 1946.- Biography :Edward Thompson was the son of an assistant master at Marlborough College. He was educated at Marlborough before taking the Mechanical Science Tripos at Pembroke College,...
and Peppercorn Pacifics
LNER Peppercorn Class A1
The London and North Eastern Railway Peppercorn Class A1 is a type of express passenger steam locomotive. Forty-nine original Peppercorn Class A1s were built to the design of Arthur Peppercorn during the early British Railways era, but all were scrapped with the discontinuation of steam,...
. Flying Scotsman emerged from Doncaster works on 4 January 1947 as an A3, having received a boiler with the long "banjo" dome of the type it carries today. By this time it had been renumbered twice: under Edward Thompson's
Edward Thompson (engineer)
Edward Thompson was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway between 1941 and 1946.- Biography :Edward Thompson was the son of an assistant master at Marlborough College. He was educated at Marlborough before taking the Mechanical Science Tripos at Pembroke College,...
comprehensive renumbering scheme for the LNER, it became no. 502 in January 1946; but in May the same year, under an amendment to that plan, it become no. 103. Following nationalisation of the railways on 1 January 1948, almost all of the LNER locomotive numbers were increased by 60000, and no. 103 duly became 60103 in December 1948.
Between 5 June 1950 and 4 July 1954, and between 26 December 1954 and 1 September 1957, under British Railways ownership, it was allocated to Leicester Central shed on the Great Central, running Nottingham Victoria to London Marylebone services via Leicester Central, and hauled one of the last services on that line before its closure..
All A3 Pacifics were subsequently fitted with a double Kylchap
Kylchap
The Kylchap steam locomotive steam locomotive exhaust system was designed and patented by the famous French steam engineer André Chapelon, using a second-stage nozzle designed by the Finnish engineer Kyösti Kylälä and known as the Kylälä spreader; thus the name KylChap for this design.The Kylchap...
chimney to improve performance and economy. This caused soft exhaust and smoke drift that tended to obscure the driver's forward vision; the remedy was found in the German-type smoke deflectors fitted from 1960, which somewhat changed the locomotives' appearance but solved the problem.
Preservation
Number 60103 ended service with British RailBritish Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways in January 1963 and was sold for preservation to Alan Pegler
Alan Pegler
Alan Francis Pegler OBE FRSA is a British railway preservationist, best known for saving LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman and his involvement with the Ffestiniog Railway. He was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Years Honours list. He is a Member of Jesus College, Cambridge, 1938.-Notes:...
, who had it restored at Darlington Works
Darlington Works
Darlington railway works, known in the town as North Road Shops, was built in 1863 by the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the town of Darlington in the north east of England.-NER History:The first new locomotive was built at the works in 1864...
as closely as possible to its LNER condition: the smoke deflectors were removed, the double chimney was replaced by a single chimney, and the tender
Tender locomotive
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...
was replaced by one of the corridor type with which the locomotive had run between 1928 and 1936. It was also repainted into LNER livery, although the cylinder sides were painted green, whereas in LNER days they were always black. It then worked a number of railtours, including a non-stop London–Edinburgh run in 1968 – the year steam traction officially ended on BR. In the meantime, the watering facilities for locomotives were disappearing, so in September 1966 Pegler purchased a second corridor tender, and adapted as an auxiliary water tank; retaining its through gangway, this was coupled behind the normal tender.
Fears then arose for the engine's future, the speculation being that it could take up permanent residence in America or even be cut up. After Alan Bloom
Alan Bloom (plantsman)
Alan Herbert Vauser Bloom was a British Horticulturist and steam engine enthusiast. During his life he created over 170 new varieties of hardy perennial plants. These and Alpine plants were his specialities. He wrote some 30 books and appeared on radio and television...
made a personal phone call to him in January 1973, William McAlpine
Sir William McAlpine, 6th Baronet
Sir William Hepburn McAlpine, 6th Baronet , is a British millionaire businessman, a former director of the construction company Sir Robert McAlpine.-Biography:...
stepped in and bought the locomotive for £25,000 direct from the finance company in San Francisco docks. After its return to the UK via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
in February 1973, McAlpine paid for the locomotive's restoration at Derby Works
Derby Works
The Midland Railway Locomotive Works, known locally as "the loco" comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities in Derby building locomotives and, initially, rolling stock in Derby, UK.-Early days:...
. Trial runs took place on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway
The Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway is a heritage railway on the former Kingswear branch line between Paignton and Kingswear in Torbay, Devon, England....
in summer 1973, after which it was transferred to Steamtown (Carnforth)
Steamtown (Carnforth)
This was a visitor attraction open to the public on the site of the old 10A locomotive depot, wagon works and west side sidings at Carnforth in Lancashire...
, from where it steamed on various tours.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to take part in that country's bicentenary
Australian Bicentenary
The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1970 on the 200th anniversary of Captain James Cook landing and claiming the land, and again in 1988 to celebrate 200 years of permanent European settlement.-1970:...
celebrations and during the course of the next year it travelled more than 45000 kilometres (27,961.8 mi) over Australian rails, including a transcontinental run from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. It was a central attraction in the Aus Steam '88
Aus Steam '88
Aus Steam '88 was an Australian Bicentenary activity in Melbourne, Victoria featuring many steam locomotives from NSW, Victoria and also the United Kingdom. The event took place at Spencer Street railway station, Melbourne from 15 October - 29 October...
festival, double heading with NSWGR locomotive 3801, and running alongside Victorian Railways R class
Victorian Railways R class
The R class was an express passenger steam locomotive that ran on Australia's Victorian Railways from 1951 to 1974. A long overdue replacement for the 1907-era A2 class 4-6-0, their development and construction was repeatedly delayed due to financial constraints caused by the Great Depression and...
locomotives along the 300 km (186.4 mi)-long parallel broad
Victorian broad gauge
Rail gauge in Australia displays significant variation, which has been an ongoing problem for transportation on the Australian continent, for over a hundred years.-Track gauges and route km:The most used gauges are Main gauges:...
and standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
tracks of the North East railway line, Victoria. The Flying Scotsman stayed in Victoria for two months before heading back to New South Wales. On 8 August 1989 Flying Scotsman set another record, travelling 442 miles (711.3 km) from Parkes
Parkes, New South Wales
- Transport :Parkes has a local bus service provided by Western Road Liners, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The Indian Pacific also stops twice a week, as well as the Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by CountryLink, which heads to Broken Hill on Mondays and Sydney on...
to Broken Hill non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded. A plaque on the engine records the event.
Returned to the UK, by 1995 it was in pieces at Southall Railway Centre
Southall Railway Centre
Southall Railway Centre is a railway heritage centre at Southall in west London, near to Southall railway station and the Grand Union Canal. It is run by the GWR Preservation Group Limited .-History:...
in West London, owned by a consortia that included McAlpine as well as music guru and well-known railway enthusiast Pete Waterman
Pete Waterman
Peter Alan Waterman OBE is an English record producer, occasional songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting team he wrote and produced many hit singles...
. Facing an uncertain future owing to the cost of restoration and refurbishment necessary to meet the stringent engineering standards required for main line operation, salvation came in 1996 when Dr Tony Marchington
Tony Marchington
Dr Tony Marchington was an English biotechnology entrepreneur and businessman, famous as the co-founder of Oxford Molecular, and the former owner of Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman.-Early life:...
bought the locomotive, and had it restored over three years to running condition at a cost of £1 million. Marchington's time with the Flying Scotsman was documented in two films, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's A Gambol on Steam, and the later Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
programme A Steamy Affair: The Story of Flying Scotsman.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, to create revenue from associated branding. After floating on OFEX as Flying Scotsman plc in the same year, in 2003 Edinburgh City Council turned down the village plans, and in September 2003 Marchington was declared bankrupt. At the company's AGM in October 2003, CEO Peter Butler
Peter Butler (politician)
Peter Butler is a British Conservative Party politician. At the 1992 general election, he became the first Member of Parliament for the new constituency of North East Milton Keynes, winning the seat with a majority of over 14,000. A former solicitor he served as a PPS to Kenneth Clarke.Butler...
announced losses of £474,619, and with a £1.5 million overdraft at Barclays Bank, stated that the company only had enough cash to trade until April 2004. The company's shares were suspended from OFEX on 3 November 2003 after it had failed to declare interim results.
With the locomotive effectively placed up for sale, after a high-profile national campaign it was bought in April 2004 by the National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, and it is now part of the National Collection. After 12 months of interim running repairs, it ran for a while to raise funds for its forthcoming 10-year major boiler recertification.
In late 2005, Flying Scotsman entered the Museum's workshops for a major overhaul to mainline running standard; originally planned to be completed by mid 2010 if sufficient funds were raised, but late discovery of additional problems meant it would not be completed until late spring 2012. The bay in which the locomotive was being refurbished was on view to visitors to the NRM but the engine was rapidly dismantled to such an extent that the running plate was the only component recognisable to the casual observer. Early in 2009 it emerged that the overhaul would see the loco reunited with the last remaining genuine A3 boiler (acquired at the same time as the locomotive as a spare). The A4 boiler that the loco had used since the early 1980s was sold to Jeremy Hosking
Jeremy Hosking
Jeremy J. Hosking is a British businessman, a co-founder and investment portfolio manager for private investment fund Marathon. Hosking is also well known for his extensive collection of steam locomotives, and 25% share holding in Crystal Palace F.C....
for potential use on his locomotive, LNER Class A4 4464 Bittern
LNER Class A4 4464 Bittern
4464 Bittern is a London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 steam locomotive. Built for the LNER in 1937 at Doncaster Works as works number 1866, it was originally numbered 4464. It was renumbered 19 on 16 August 1946 under the LNER 1946 renumbering scheme and after nationalisation in 1948 BR added...
.
Debate over restoration
Alan Pegler's preferred option was evidently to return the locomotive as far as possible to the general appearance and distinctive colour it carried at the height of its fame in the 1930s. A later option was to re-install the double Kylchap
Kylchap
The Kylchap steam locomotive steam locomotive exhaust system was designed and patented by the famous French steam engineer André Chapelon, using a second-stage nozzle designed by the Finnish engineer Kyösti Kylälä and known as the Kylälä spreader; thus the name KylChap for this design.The Kylchap...
chimney and German smoke deflectors that it carried at the end of its career in the 1960s, which encouraged more complete combustion, a factor in dealing with smoke pollution and fires caused by spark throwing.
More recently, until its current overhaul it was running in a hybrid form, retaining the modernised exhaust arrangements while carrying the LNER 'Apple Green' livery of the 1930s. Some believe that the more famous LNER colour scheme should remain, while others take the view that, to be authentic, only BR livery should be used when the loco is carrying these later additions. The subject is further complicated by the fact that, while in BR livery, the locomotive never ran with its corridor tender.
The National Railway Museum (NRM) announced on 15 February 2011, that Flying Scotsman will be painted in LNER Wartime Black livery when it undergoes its steam tests and commissioning runs. The letters 'NE' appear on the sides of the tender, along with the number '103' on one side of the cab and '502' on the other - the numbers it was given under the LNER's renumbering system. Flying Scotsman will be repainted in its familiar-look Apple Green livery in the summer, but remained in black for the NRM's Flying Scotsman Preview Weekend which took place on 28–30 May 2011.
In popular culture
Because of the LNER's emphasis on using the locomotive for publicity purposes, and then its eventful preservation history, including two international forays, it is arguably one of the most famous locomotives in the world today, and no doubt among the most famous in the UK. One of its first film appearances was in the 1929 film The Flying ScotsmanThe Flying Scotsman (1929 film)
The Flying Scotsman is a 1929 black and white film set on the Flying Scotsman train from London to Edinburgh, also featuring the famous locomotive LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman...
, which featured an entire sequence set aboard the locomotive.
Flying Scotsman was featured in The Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
books by the Rev. W. Awdry. The locomotive visited the fictional Island of Sodor in the book Enterprising Engines. At this time it had two tenders, and this was a key feature of the plot of one of the stories, "Tenders for Henry". When the story was filmed for the television series Thomas & Friends, renamed as "Tender Engines" only Flying Scotsman's two tenders were seen outside a shed. He originally intended to have a larger role in this episode, but due to budgetary constraints ,the modelling crew could not afford to build the whole engine.
Flying Scotsman is featured in the PC game Microsoft Train Simulator
Microsoft Train Simulator
Microsoft Train Simulator is a train simulator for Microsoft Windows, released in July 2001 and developed by UK based Kuju Entertainment, and is available for purchase through Amazon.com.-Gameplay:...
. The locomotive is also included in the 2004 & 2006 edition of Trainz
Trainz
Trainz is a series of 3D train simulator computer games developed by Australian game developer N3V Games . First released in 2001, the series has a large online community that creates and shares user-created content. The game has been released in several versions, including localized versions...
Railroad Simulator.
RailSimulator.com, developers of the simulator RailWorks, released a model and associated activities for the simulator on 5 November 2010.
Flying Scotsman featured in the film 102 Dalmatians
102 Dalmatians
102 Dalmatians is a 2000 live-action film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and starring Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. It is the sequel to 101 Dalmatians, a live-action remake of the 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name. In the film, Cruella de Vil attempts to steal puppies for her...
, pulling the Orient Express
Orient Express
The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
out of London.
Flying Scotsman made a short appearance in an episode of the '60s spy show Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
episode "The Sanctuary".
The locomotive was the first choice for the "Top Gear Race to the North
Top Gear Race to the North
The Top Gear Race to the North was a three way race between a Jaguar XK120 car, a Vincent Black Shadow motorbike, and railway locomotive 60163 Tornado – a brand new mainline steam engine completed in Britain in 2008. The race saw the car, bike and locomotive, race from London, England, to...
", though due to an overhaul was unable to attend, so the position went to LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
60163 Tornado is a main-line steam locomotive built in Darlington, England. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom since Evening Star, the last steam locomotive built by British Railways, in 1960...
instead.
A model of the Flying Scotsman appeared in Episode 6 and The Great Train Race episodes of James May's Toy Stories
James May's Toy Stories
James May's Toy Stories is a television series presented by James May. The series was commissioned for BBC Two from Plum Pictures. The first episode, "Airfix", was shown on BBC Two at 8:00 pm on Tuesday 27 October 2009....
. It was James May
James May
James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....
s personal childhood model and was chosen by him to complete a world record for the longest model railway. The train was meant to travel 7 miles from Barnstaple
Barnstaple
Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...
to Bideford
Bideford
Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...
, in North Devon
North Devon
North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...
and it failed early in the trip in Episode 6 but managed to complete it in The Great Train Race.
The locomotive also appeared in the animated film, "The Illusionist" (2010) adapted and directed by Sylvain Chomet from a screenplay by Jacques Tati. The film, set in Edinburgh in the early 1960s shows 4472, with smoke deflectors, leaving Waverley Station with the eponymous hero aboard.
External links
- National Railway Museum's site about Flying Scotsman trainFlying Scotsman (train)The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...
and locomotive - The official National Railway Museum print website containing many Flying Scotsman prints and posters
- Photo: from Gresley Society
- BBC "Nation on Film" article with historic films of Flying Scotsman in steam.
- The LNER Encyclopedia page for the Gresley A1/A3s including Flying Scotsman
- History of the Flying Scotsman by Southern Steam Trains
