Painstakingly overhauled and repainted in BR livery, Flying Scotsman has returned to its former stamping ground on the East Coast Main Line with a run from London King’s Cross to York.
This legend of the railway’s past is back in steam again after benefiting from a £4.2 million restoration programme. It’s been a long haul, due in part to the extensive modification and variable maintenance it received under private ownership.
Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, Flying Scotsman emerged from Doncaster works as an A1 locomotive in 1923. It hauled the inaugural non-stop London to Edinburgh service on 1st May 1928 and became the first steam locomotive to officially reach 100 mph six years later.
Having covered more than two million miles, it entered private ownership in the Sixties and went on to tour both North America and Australia. Today the locomotive is in the hands of the National Railway Museum, bought in 2004 through a sealed-bid auction for £2.3 million.
Ahead of Flying Scotsman is a busy summer, starring in a season of events at the National Railway Museum before venturing out onto the main line again for a nationwide tour, most of it already sold out.
But why did the spectators went close to the railway lines as the ECML is a 100-125mph main line from London to Edinburgh.