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By Roger Highfield on

Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service

The world's most famous locomotive drew crowds eager to see it in all its carefully restored glory.

Flying Scotsman made its inaugural run from London to the National Railway Museum in York today after a £4.2m effort to restore the steam legend to its former glory. Tens of thousands of people, from fascinated bystanders to train fans and ‘puffer nutters’, lined platforms, crowded tracks and hung over bridges as the venerable locomotive thundered up the East Coast Main Line, pulling 11 carriages crammed with dignitaries, press, paying ticket holders, rail engineers and former staff.

Just before it departed from King’s Cross, National Railway Museum Director Paul Kirkman told me:

It has taken years of hard work to get this far and it is incredibly satisfying to see the most famous locomotive in the world back on track, steaming up the East Coast Mainline. We would like to thank all the generous supporters of this complex project – this moment is a vivid testament to their achievement.

At around 7.20am, passengers climbed aboard including Scotsman’s former owner Sir William McAlpine; broadcaster Michael Portillo; Secretary of State for Transport rt. Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP; Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum Group, SMG; Dame Mary Archer, Chair of the SMG board; Sir Peter Luff, Chair of HLF, and Fiona Spiers, Head of HLF Yorkshire and the Humber; Trustees Lord Faulkner, Simon Linnett, Anton Valk and Averil Macdonald; former Scotsman firemen and drivers and many of the people involved in the decade-long restoration project to bring the steam legend back to life.

Twenty minutes later the behemoth departed with a piercing whistle through billowing clouds of steam from Platform 1, arriving at Platform 9 in York at around 12.30pm, then moving at a steady der-dum, der-dum next door to come to a halt at around 3pm in the North Yard of the museum, home of the world’s most important rail collection.

Arriving into York station, only slightly later than schedule due to some over enthusiastic spectators .
Arriving into York station, only slightly later than scheduled due to some trespassers en route.

Over its lifetime of more than nine decades this magnificent symbol of railway heritage and technology has travelled some 2,500,000 miles and, more like a living creature than museum piece, seen a constant turnover of components and parts, along with enhancements to allow it to operate in the 21st century.

Today’s historic journey between London King’s Cross and York allowed the public to see the restored icon of British engineering in green livery, BR Green 60103, and carrying its iconic nameplates for the first time.

The enthralling feat of engineering was cheered from beginning to end of its two hundred mile inaugural run, spellbinding trainspotters and the public alike: as the tabloids remarked, train fans ‘went loco.’

The first passenger-carrying outing put a firm full stop at the end of a long and thorough testing and commissioning process, showing that the Flying Scotsman is officially back on track after being restored at the Bury engineering works of Riley & Sons (E) Bury.

The 96 ton locomotive was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built in the Doncaster railway works. Among the innovations in its design was a corridor to allow the driver and fireman to walk through to the carriages so that crews could swap mid-journey without stopping the train.

Unveiled in February 1923, the Flying Scotsman consolidated its reputation a decade later when it was clocked at 100mph, becoming the first locomotive to have officially reached that speed. During the pre-war years the locomotive came to symbolize all that is speed and style, not least because it was the star of British cinema’s first ‘talkie’ in 1929 and carried innovations such as the cinema car, cocktail bar and hairdressing salon.

Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Group, who helped to save the Scotsman with a £365,000 gift, talked glowingly about how he ‘loved the glamour that the Flying Scotsman brought to travel… I also love the Flying Scotsman’s record breaking history.’

In 1963 the locomotive went out of service and spent 40 years in private ownership touring the world. More than a decade ago the National Railway Museum bought it for £2.3 million, supported by a £1.8 million national lottery grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the incredible generosity of the public. The restoration has also been undertaken with the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £275,000.

The Flying Scotsman was recently confirmed as the world’s most famous locomotive after its name topped a poll commissioned from YouGov, even overtaking the locomotive that had propelled the industrial revolution, Stephenson’s Rocket, that also belongs to the Science Museum Group.

Today’s inaugural run got the Flying Scotsman celebrations off to a flying start during the locomotive’s ‘birthday month’. Among the forthcoming events, one will celebrate when it reached 100mph on a London to Leeds run under the guidance of Driver William Sparshatt. The LNER’s 1905 Dynamometer Car was in tow to record the feat on 30 November 1934 and will once again be reunited with the Flying Scotsman in the Museum’s March-May Stunts, Speed and Style display.

Sir Peter Hendy, Chairman of Network Rail, pointed out that since the heyday of the Flying Scotsman, when it made regular trips from London to Edinburgh, the journey time has halved and frequency quadrupled. “Alongside celebrating the glorious history of the oldest railway in the world we also look forward to investing to continue the huge contribution the railway makes to the future of the UK.”

Looking majestic at platform 9, shortly before heading round the corner to the National Railway Museum
Looking majestic at platform 9, shortly before heading round the corner to the National Railway Museum

The historic service still runs: Virgin Trains’ modern day Flying Scotsman-liveried 91101 locomotive was unveiled by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon at Edinburgh Waverley Station earlier this year. The modern train, which departed at 8.30am today from an adjoining platform, overtook its venerable sister as it raced north in just two hours. David Horne, Managing Director of Virgin Trains on its East Coast route, said: “The Flying Scotsman has an incredible history and we’re proud to be sponsoring a season celebrating its return to the tracks.”

If you were unable to join us at either Kings Cross or York, Watch our video of the day:

Visitors to the National Railway Museum can immerse themselves in the glamour of the world’s longest-established express train with a ticketed exhibition. Starring Scotsman, the Museum’s exhibition about the engineering icon, is now open to visitors. Service with Style will use sound and archive film on board three carriages to tell its stirring story of speed, innovation, fame and luxury.

For the latest news use hashtag #FlyingScotsman and to give us your recollections of this engineering legend use #MyScotsman or visit http://www.flyingscotsman.org.uk/my-scotsman-story/

11 comments on “Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service

  1. A momentous day and she looked superb too!

    But please don’t refer to trespassers as “enthusiastic spectators” – they were trespassers whose selfish behaviour delayed many ‘normal’ passengers going about their business.

    1. Totally agree with you James. It’s those selfish prats that spoil it for everyone else. They know what they are doing and don’t care. And is it any wonder when you here on News Reports that British Transport Police were called and after causing delays to the train the offenders were ushered away without,and this is the annoying bit,any arrests being made. They should have all been prosecuted and given hefty fines and barred from all railway property,then perhaps they would think twice about spoiliing it for all The Law Abiding Enthusiasts. Sorry but it really P’s me off.

  2. Hi, well done to everyone in regards to the Flying Scotsmans new lease of life. Is there any chance of it running next year in August/September around the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2017? Please, please

  3. last night I was fortunate enough to attend the ‘Welcome home dinner’ for the Scotsman in the Great Hall at the railway museum in York. We dined adjacent to the great icon sat proudly on the turntable gleaming proudly.
    Well done to all concerned for an excellent evening. Also congratulations to all who have been involved in returning this treasure to its pristine glory for the benefit of us all.

  4. Great Britain has a glorious history, and it is wonderful to see the pride in it reflected in projects like this. It brings that history to life for the benefit of all. Well done, and may that great spirit last forever!

  5. I’m absolutely thrilled to see Flying Scotsman in steam and on the main line again and she looks superb, but why in British Rail livery not LNER 4472?

  6. Great to see it back, going over to York in 2 weeks with my 9 year old son Tom having been to the museum for years and will be calling in to see it

  7. Steam Dreams/Network Rail Fiasco

    What a scam, I paid £300 for a trip on the flying Scotsman for this weekend only to be informed on Friday afternoon that the trip is cancelled due to network rail not carrying out necessary checks on the line in time.
    steam dreams are saying trip will go ahead but not pulled by the steam engine but by a Diesel engine
    Why w.ould I want to pay that amount of money for that ?

  8. I love The Flying Scotsman he is the king of all Steam Engines in the World and History thinks to many owners of famous engine kept him going over fifty years

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