Flying Scotsman

"Is that why you have two tenders, being special?"

- Gordon, "Enterprising Engines"

    Flying Scotsman  
 * Built date: 1923
 * Designer: Sir Nigel Gresley
 * Builder: Doncaster Work
 * Gauge: 4' 8.5"
 * Driver size: 80 inches diameter
 * Length: 70 feet
 * Height: 13 feet
 * Locomotive weight: 96.25 tons
 * Cylinders: 3
 * Top speed: 100 mph
 * Tractive effort: 29,385 lbf

Flying Scotsman, a LNER Class A3 4-6-2, is the last of Gordon's brothers. He holds the records for being the first engine to officially run at 100 mp/h and the longest non-stop run for a steam engine - 442 miles. His most famous accomplishment is travelling the 631 kilometres between London and Edinburgh, non-stop, in eight hours.

Bio
Flying Scotsman was completed in 1923, construction having been started under the auspices of the Great Northern Railway. It was built as an A1, initially carrying the number 1472.

Flying Scotsman was something of a flagship locomotive for the LNER. He represented the company at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 and 1925. At this time he acquired his name and the new number of 4472. From then on he was commonly used for promotional purposes.

With suitably modified valve gear, he 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 May the 1st 1928. For this the locomotives ran with a new version of the large eight-wheel tender which held nine tons of coal. This and the usual facility for water replenishment from the water trough system enabled them to travel the 631 kilometres 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 in order to allow replacement of the driver and fireman without stopping the train. The following year he appeared in the film "The Flying Scotsman".

On November the 30th 1934, running a light test train, he became the first steam locomotive to be officially recorded at 100 mp/h and earned a place in the land speed record for railed vehicles; the publicity-conscious LNER made much of the fact.

On August the 22nd 1928 there appeared an improved version of this Pacific type classified A3; older A1 locomotives were later rebuilt to conform. On April the 25th 1945 A1 class locomotives not yet rebuilt were reclassified A10 in order to make way for newer Thompson and Peppercorn Pacifics. This included Flying Scotsman, which emerged from Doncaster works on January the 4th 1947 as an A3 having received a boiler with a long "banjo" dome of the type it carries today. By this time he had become no. 103 in Edward Thompson's comprehensive renumbering scheme for the LNER, then 60103 from January the 1st 1948 on the nationalisation of the railways when all the LNER locomotive numbers were prefixed with 60000. Between June the 5th 1950 and July the 4th 1954, and December the 26th 1954 and September the 1st 1957, under British Railways ownership, he 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 his appearance but successfully solved the problem.

Preservation
60103 ended service with British Railways in 1963 and was sold for preservation to Alan Pegler, who had him restored as closely as possible to his original LNER condition. He then worked a number of railtours, including a non-stop London–Edinburgh run in 1968 – the year steam traction officially ended on BR. As watering facilities for locomotives had by then disappeared, a second eight-wheel tender was adapted as an auxiliary water tank.



In 1969 he went on a promotional tour to the USA, where he was fitted with cowcatcher, a high-intensity headlamp, a bell, air brakes and buckeye couplings. 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 his future, the speculation being that he could take up permanent residence in America or even be cut up. Fortunately, in January 1973 William McAlpine stepped in at the eleventh hour and had him repaired and repatriated.

In 1988 the locomotive travelled to Australia to take part in the country's bicentenary celebrations. There he set another record, travelling 442 miles from Parkes to Broken Hill non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded.

In recent years Flying Scotsman has continued to have an eventful existence. In 1995 it was in pieces at Southall depot in West London and 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 him and had him restored to running condition at a cost of some £750,000.

In 2004 Flying Scotsman was put up for sale because of the mounting debts of its owning company. After a high-profile campaign he was bought in April by the National Railway Museum in York and is now part of the national collection. As of 2006 Flying Scotsman is undergoing a major overhaul at the NRM and is not due to resume running until summer 2010. The overhaul is taking much longer than excepted due to the National Railway Museum's decision to rebuild Flying Scotsman's "spare" 'A3' type boiler rather than rebuilding his 'A4'-type boiler, which he had fitted in his last overhaul between 1996 and 1999. Also, the firebox on Flying Scotsman's "spare" boiler needs to be replaced, which means more funding is required to get Flying Scotsman back in service. The bay in which the locomotive is being refurbished is on view to visitors to the NRM but currently he has been dismantled to such an extent that the running plate is the only component recognisable to the casual observer.

Livery
The Flying Scotsman is painted LNER green with black and yellow lining and LNER painted in yellow on his tender side.

Choice of livery is a subject of controversy amongst those involved in the preservation of historic rolling stock, and Flying Scotsman has attracted more than its fair share, the result of forty years' continuous service during which the locomotive has undergone several changes to its livery. Alan Pegler's 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. A later option was to reinstall the double Kylchap chimney and German smoke deflectors that it carried at the end of its career in the 1960s; this 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 an anachronistic 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; others take the view that, to be authentic, only BR "Brunswick Green" livery should be used when the loco is carrying these later additions – the issue is further complicated by the fact that while in BR "Brunswick Green" Livery it never ran with the corridor tender! Other liveries that Flying Scotsman has had are the wartime "Black" livery and the British Railways "Express Passenger Lined Blue" livery.

The "Railway Series"
Flying Scotsman appeared as an honorary guest in 1967-8 in "Enterprising Engines" to cheer his only surviving brother Gordon up. He had two tenders at the time he arrived, causing Henry to feel jealous.

The television series


In the third season episode "Tender Engines" Flying Scotsman's two tenders appeared poking out of a shed. Both of his tenders had a coalbunker, which is impossible: Flying Scotsman's rear tender only carries water.

The magazines
Flying Scotsman was mentioned in a story in a "Thomas and Friends". After Donald and Douglas told Harold about him, Harold was confused and though the twins were talking about a Scotsman who could fly. Thomas explained that the twins were actually talking about an engine.

Merchandising

 * ERTL model (discontinued)
 * LC Wooden (with angry face and 2 tenders retired)
 * Hornby model