OK I’m a nerd and I absolutely love trains! There’s the nostalgia, the feats of engineering, then there’s the good old excuse to dress up in the clothing that would have been the fashion of the 1920s. I’m fascinated by the sounds of the engine and the smells of the steam which is quite hard to describe in words but when you consider the mix of fuel, hot metal, steam and mechanical lubricants (various grease products) - it makes for an odour that can only be experienced in the presence of such beautiful machines!
Can a machine be beautiful? Oh yes!
We caught up with the legend at Newbury racecourse train station where it was scheduled to stop for more around 40 minutes, and as such we were able to take a pretty good look. Trouble was, hundreds of people wanted to get close - as you can tell from my video!
It was a challenge getting close, so got to a certain point and then decided to step back and admire the train from a little further away.
Nowadays the Flying Scotsman spends much of it’s time based at York’s National Train Museum but from time to time you can take extensive tours in the luxury of a Pullman carriage (Orient Express). I believe over the weekend they had travelled down to Didcot, just south of Oxford and then travelled through Berkshire, Wiltshire and back to Didcot via Swindon which is another significant town in our railway history. The passengers must have had a wonderful time.
Built in 1923 at Doncaster Works, it cost just over £7k to manufacture. Weighs 97 tonnes or for context, 16 male Elephants! It’s 70ft in length or equivalent to 5 big cars. It was the first locomotive to reach 100mph and the first to circumnavigate the globe!
If you travel nowadays on LNER, guess which train started this company off? Yup it was that Flying Scotsman!
For a number of years the Scotsman was stranded in the USA after a tour lost money and the service was shut down in San Francisco. In 1973, it was rescued by William McAlpine who paid off the creditors, purchased the train and shipped it back to the UK where it ran for over 20 years, even taking a trip to Australia for a tour there. This is where it circumnavigated the globe and even made a non-stop journey of over 400 miles whilst it was in Australia.
The train underwent repairs in the 1990s and was part-owned by pop impresario, Pete Waterman for a period of time in partnership with McAlpine.
Tony Marchington purchased the locomotive in 1996 for over £1 million.
In 2004, its ownership came under pressure again and a national campaign, raised enough funds to acquire the train and restore it’s national treasure status and that’s how it came be property of the National Train Museum and lottery funds helped restore it to it’s former glory.
What a life the Flying Scotsman has had!
There are some tours coming up soon if you are in the Durham area or want to travel there from other places - Durham Trips and the most expensive tickets are £129 for First Class and cheaper tickets are available for £79 / £49 / £22.95
I’d be up for that!
Thanks for checking out my post. More of this stuff coming in the future.
Video Chapters
- 0:00 The arrival
- 1:25 Pullman carriages
- 3:13 Getting closer to the Loco!
- 3:57 Traction engine
- 4:14 Outro
Video Links
Journeys and Experiences with Flying Scotsman Steam Locomotive
Flying Scotsman | National Railway Museum