FLYING SCOTSMAN

Eagle Eye Productions

Eagle Eye Productions is proud to be associated with this famous icon of British railways history, by producing videos and selling merchandise, as part of the fund raising process, to restore Flying Scotsman back to mainline running condition, for future generations to enjoy.

Here is a brief history of the most famous steam locomotive in the world:

Locomotive Flying Scotsman, was built in 1923 with the number 1472 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Locomotive Works, to a design of Sir H.N.Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express trains by the LNER and its successors - British Railways Eastern and North-Eastern Regions, notably the 10 am London to Edinburgh Flying Scotsman service. During its career, Flying Scotsman has travelled over 2 million miles (3,200,000 km).

In January 1963, Flying Scotsman was sold for preservation to Alan Pegler, who had it restored as closely as possible to its LNER condition, at Doncaster Locomotive Works,: the smoke deflectors were removed, the double chimney was replaced by a single chimney and the tender was replaced by one of the corridor type, with which the locomotive had run between 1928 and 1936 and was repainted into LNER livery of Apple Green, lined out in black & white. It then worked a number of rail tours, including a non-stop London to Edinburgh run in 1968 – the year that steam traction officially ended on BR. In the meantime, the watering facilities for locomotives were disappearing and so in September 1966, Alan Pegler purchased a second corridor tender and had it adapted as an auxiliary water carrier, but retaining its through gangway. When completed, it was coupled behind the normal tender in operational use.

Alan Pegler had a contract permitting him to run his locomotive on BR until 1972, but following overhaul in the winter of 1968 1969, it went on a promotional tour to the USA and Canada, for which, it was fitted with a pilot (cowcatcher), bell, buckeye couplings, American-style whistle, air brakes and high-intensity headlamp. The trip was initially a success, but when Pegler's backers withdrew their support, he began to lose money and finally became bankrupt in 1972. Fears then arose for the engine's future, as there was speculation that it could take up permanent residence in America or even be cut up. In January 1973, William McAlpine stepped in at the eleventh hour and had the locomotive repatriated and overhauled at Derby Works. Then for several years, it worked various specials around the country and on preserved railways.

In October 1988, the locomotive arrived in Australia to take part in that country's bicentenary celebrations and during the course of the next year, it travelled more than 28,000 miles (45km) over Australian rails, including a transcontinental run from Sydney to Perth. Flying Scotsman stayed in Victoria for 2 months before heading back to New South Wales. On 8 August 1989 Flying Scotsman set another record, travelling 422 miles (711 km) from Parkes to Broken Hill non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded.

For several years, Flying Scotsman was also co-owned with Sir William McAlpine, by world famous music producer and well-known railway enthusiast Pete Waterman.

In 1995, Flying Scotsman was in the process of being dismantled at Southall depot in West London and was facing an uncertain future, owing to the very high 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 the locomotive and had it restored to running condition at a cost of some £750,000.

In 2004, Flying Scotsman was put up for sale by its owning company because of the mounting debts and after a high-profile campaign, it was bought in April 2004 by the National Railway Museum, York, where it is now part of the National Collection.

In 2007, Flying Scotsman entered the Museum's workshops for a major overhaul to mainline running standard and it was planned to be restored to main-line running condition by mid 2011, if sufficient funds were raised.

However, by February 2015 Flying Scotsman was still not completed.

Check this link for further updates:

http://www.nrm.org.uk/flyingscotsman