Summary
QUESTION Did the Flying Scotsman (engine) ever pull the Flying Scotsman (train)?
THE locomotive Flying Scotsman worked the Flying Scotsman train for many years. On June 1, 1862, at 10am, two trains started simultaneously from London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, a service known throughout the world as the Special Scotch Express. No one seems to know exactly when this train became known as the Flying Scotsman, but it had gained the name unofficially many years before official recognition came by way of the LNER. The locomotive Flying Scotsman was built at Doncaster in 1923 as an A1 Pacific to the design of LNER chief mechanical engineer (later Sir) Nigel Gresley and was an instant success. Chosen to represent the LNER at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, she was embellished with brass rims, burnished tyres and the new LNER coat of arms on her cab sides. On May 1, 1928, Flying Scotsman pulled the Flying Scotsman train on its first non-stop run at the time, the longest non-stop train journey ever achieved. To achieve this, Gresley had improved the efficiency of his design to a point where it could travel 392 miles (630km) on one tender of coal (plus water scooped up from troughs en route). Gresley also designed a 'corridor' tender to allow a mid-journey crew change. On November 30, 1934, the locomotive became Britain's first steam engine to reach a fully authenticated 100mph when she raced a special train down Stoke bank with the LNER's dynamometer car attached behind the engine. With the outbreak of World War II, Flying Scotsman became an ordinary working engine, painted in black livery, pulling goods, parcels and passenger trains for the war effort. The locomotive was rebuilt and improved by the LNER and British Railways over the years until finally withdrawn from service in 1963. For some reason, she was not earmarked for preservation, but was saved from the scrapyard by businessman Alan Pegler, who bought her from British Railways. He had her restored to near original form at Doncaster and she travelled the country far and wide in subsequent years as well as going to the U.S. and Australia. Today, Flying Scotsman is part of the National Collection at York Railway Museum, where she is being restored for use on the main line. Sadly, she won't be seen in her original form, but will be something of a 'hybrid', in LNER livery but her final BR condition, including the fitting of German-type smoke deflectors.See the full content of this document
Extract
Loco About the Scotsman ; Answers to Correspondents
Dave Whitfield, Hartlepool.
QUESTION There's a custom in parts of North Yorkshire whereby once the bride has entered the church, children tie the gates closed. They untie them only after the groom has thrown them some coins after the service. What ar...See the full content of this document
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