Tam the Gun was the name applied to GNER Class 91

British Rail Class 91

The British Rail Class 91 is a class of , electric locomotives ordered as a component of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. The Class 91s were given the auxiliary name of InterCity 225 to indicate their envisaged top speed of...

 - 91122 in June 2006, in honour of Staff Sergeant

Staff Sergeant

Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...

 Thomas McKay

Thomas McKay (gunner)

Staff Sergeant Thomas McKay MBE , known as "Tam the Gun", was the District Gunner with 105th Regiment Royal Artillery from 1979 until 2005...

 MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

, who died on Thursday November 17, 2005 at the age of 60 from cancer. McKay was known as "Tam The Gun" because it was his duty as District Gunner to fire the One O'Clock Gun at Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...

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The locomotive was named by his widow in an official ceremony at Edinburgh Waverley

Edinburgh Waverley railway station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...

. The name formerly carried on the locomotive was Double Trigger

Double Trigger

Double Trigger is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. He was bred in Ireland, but trained in the United Kingdom throughout his racing career, which lsted from 1993 to 1998...

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