page_title: 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay
section_title: Modes of transport
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay / Modes of transport
caption_attribution_description: English: The Olympic torch being punted down the River Cam during the Cambridge leg of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay. Notice that she is going sideways (towards Kings) rather than forwards (towards the bridge) ... Should have hired a professional
context_page_description: The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011.
  As well as touring the United Kingdom the schedule included the three crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and also the Republic of Ireland.
context_section_description: As well as road runners, the Flame was conveyed on other modes of transport, sometimes kept in Davy lamps.
  On water, the torch rode in a power boat in Bristol Harbour, in an RNLI lifeboat along the Menai Strait, by ferry on the Mersey Ferry, and by the steamboat MV Tern across Windermere. In unpowered watercraft, it was punted along the River Cam in Cambridge, and rowed along the River Medway in Maidstone. Its final journey to the Olympic Stadium on 27 July was by speedboat, piloted by footballer David Beckham along the River Thames.
  Over rail the torch was hauled by steam locomotives of various gauges. The LMS Royal Scot Class locomotive No. 6115 Scots Guardsman conveyed it on the East Coast Main Line between York and Thirsk. Scots Guardsman was used as a substitute for No. 4472 Flying Scotsman. It was discovered soon after returning from a long overhaul that Flying Scotsman had lots of unnoticed cracks on it that needed repairing urgently and as a result, the iconic and famous 'Scotsman' was unable to return to service in time to haul the Olympic Torch.
  Trips were also taken on standard gauge heritage railways at the Great Central Railway, North Yorkshire Moors Railway and Severn Valley Railway On smaller gauges the torch visited the Ffestiniog Railway and a miniature railway Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway. It was taken up funicular railways the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, Hastings East Hill Cliff Railway, and Great Orme Tramway, as well as the narrow gauge rack railway the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Electric trams carried the torch on the Blackpool tramway and Manx Electric Railway. After it arrived in London the torch took a trip on the London Underground between Wimbledon and Wimbledon Park.
  By road, the torch would complete 80% of its tour, in a security van. A road train was used in the Mumbles and it rode on an open top bus through the Cumbrian countryside. The torch was transported on three wheels by a TT motorcycle sidecar on the Isle of Man, by a Paralympic road cycle around Brands Hatch motor racing circuit and by mountain bike at the Hadleigh Farm course in Essex.
  Horses were used when the torch was carried at the Cheltenham and Chester racecourses. It was carried on a Cob horse in Aberaeron and hauled by horse-drawn tram on the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway.
  Journeys by air were taken when the torch travelled by zip wire from the top of the Tyne Bridge to the Gateshead riverside, and when conveyed by cable car up the Heights of Abraham. It was also suspended over water as it was transported by the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge over the River Tees.
caption: The Olympic torch being punted down the River Cam during the Cambridge leg of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.
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