LNER Class A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman

## LNER Flying Scotsman

Flying Scotsman in 2017 in its British Rail guise, numbered 60103 in BR Brunswick Green livery with German-style smoke deflectors and double chimney.

## Service Information

### Operator(s)

* London and North Eastern Railway
* British Railways

## Preservation Information

### Disposition

Operational

The Flying Scotsman is an LNER A3 "Pacific" steam locomotive that was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, built February 24, 1923 by Doncaster Works in Yorkshire, Britain as GNR No. 1472 (later renumbered to LNER 4472), and was the first locomotive in the world to reach 100 mph (161km/h). It is arguably the most famous steam locomotive in the world.

## History

Originally built as "GNR 1472" - later LNER 4472. It was built as a Gresley model A1 with road number 1472, then later rebuilt as an improved A3, and through various road numbers finally designated 4472. It was one of the first Pacific designs by Sir Nigel Gresley. This specific locomotive took the same name as the "Flying Scotsman" passenger train that it famously served nonstop between London & Edinburgh.

It was employed on long-distance express trains on the LNER and its successors, British Railways' Eastern and North-Eastern Regions. In its career, 4472 *Flying Scotsman* has covered more than 2,000,000 miles (3,200,000 km).

With modified Valve gear, this locomotive was one of five Gresley Pacifics selected to haul the prestigious non-stop "Flying Scotsman" train service from went from London to Edinburgh, hauling the inaugural train on May 1, 1928. For this the locomotives ran with a new version of the large eight-wheel tender which held 9 tons of coal. This and the usual facility for water replenishment from the water trough system between the railway tracks enabled them to travel the 392 miles (631 km) 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 to permit replacement of the driver and fireman without stopping the train.

### Service

*Flying Scotsman* was something of a flagship locomotive for the LNER. It represented the company at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park in 1924 and 1925. Before this event, in February 1924 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, this locomotive 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 1 May 1928. For this, the locomotives ran with a new version of the large eight-wheel tender which held nine long tons of coal. This and the usual facility for water replenishment from the water trough system enabled them to travel the 392 miles (631 km) 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 so that the driver and fireman could be changed without stopping the train. The following year the locomotive appeared in the film *The Flying Scotsman.*

While the Great Western Railway locomotive *City of Truro* had previously been unofficially timed at running in excess of 100 mph (160.9 km/h), 4472 became the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at this speed on 30 November 1934, driven by Bill Sparshatt and running a light test train. It earned a place in the land speed record for railed vehicles; the publicity-conscious LNER made much of the fact.

The locomotive ran with its corridor tender between April 1928 and October 1936, after which it reverted to the original type; in July 1938 it was paired with a streamlined non-corridor tender, and ran with this type until withdrawal. On 22 August 1928 an improved version of this Pacific type, classified A3, appeared; older A1 locomotives were later rebuilt to conform. On 25 April 1945, A1-class locomotives not yet rebuilt were reclassified A10 to make way for newer **Thompson** and Peppercorn Pacifics. *Flying Scotsman* emerged from Doncaster Works on 4 January 1947 as an A3, having received a boiler with the long "banjo" dome of the type it carries today. By this time it had been renumbered twice: under Edward Thompson's comprehensive renumbering scheme for the LNER, it became No. 502 in January 1946; in May the same year, under an amendment to that plan, it became No. 103. Following nationalisation of the railways on 1 January 1948, almost all of the LNER locomotive numbers were increased by 60000; No. 103 became 60103 in December 1948.

Between 5 June 1950 and 4 July 1954, and between 26 December 1954 and 1 September 1957, under British Railways ownership, he was allocated to Leicester Central shed on the **Great Central Railway**, running services from Nottingham Victoria to London Marylebone via Leicester Central.

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 the locomotives' appearance.

## Preservation

In 1962, British Railways announced that it would scrap *Flying Scotsman*. No. 60103 ended service with his last scheduled run on January 14, 1963, shortly after previous owner Alan Pegler bought the locomotive. Previously proposed to be saved by a group called "Save Our Scotsman", they were unable to raise the required £3,000, the scrap value of the locomotive.

### Alan Pegler

Alan Pegler, who first saw the locomotive at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, in 1961 received £70,000 for his shareholding in Northern Rubber when it was sold to Pegler's Valves, a company started by his grandfather. When *Flying Scotsman* was due to be scrapped, Pegler stepped in and bought it outright from British Railways in 1963, with the political support of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He spent large amounts of money over the next few months having the locomotive restored at Doncaster Works as closely as possible to its LNER condition: 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. He was also repainted in LNER livery.

Pegler then persuaded the British Railways Board to let him run enthusiasts' specials; he was at the time the only steam locomotive running on the British Railways mainline. It worked a number of rail (Flying Scotsman/Mallard) tours, including a non-stop London to Edinburgh run in 1968, the year steam traction officially ended on BR. In the meantime, watering facilities for steam locomotives were disappearing, so in September 1966, Pegler purchased a second corridor tender, which was adapted as an auxiliary water tank; retaining its through gangway, this was coupled behind the normal tender.

Pegler had a contract permitting him to run his locomotive on BR until 1972. Following an overhaul in the winter of 1968–69, Harold Wilson's government agreed to support Pegler running the locomotive in the United States and Canada to help promote and support British exports. To comply with United States railway regulations, the locomotive was fitted with a cowcatcher, a bell, buckeye couplings, an American-style 3-chime whistle, air brakes, and a high-intensity headlamp, the latter of which was donated by the Southern Railway. Starting in Boston, Massachusetts, the tour ran into immediate problems, with some states increasing costs by requiring diesel or electric-headed haulage through them, seeing the locomotive as a fire hazard, as it was required by law. These towing costs would eventually pile up, costs that Pegler had not accounted for in his budget. However, despite this, the train ran from Boston to New York City, Washington, D.C. and Dallas in 1969; from Texas to Wisconsin and finishing in Montreal in 1970; and from Toronto to San Francisco in 1971 – a total of 15,400 miles (24,800 km).

Government financial support for the tour was withdrawn by Prime Minister Edward Heath's Conservative government in 1970, but Pegler decided to return for the 1970 season. By the end of that season's tour, the money had run out and Pegler was £132,000 in debt, with the locomotive in storage at the US Army Sharpe Depot in San Francisco, CA to keep it away from unpaid creditors. Pegler worked his passage home from San Francisco to England on a P&O cruise ship in 1971, giving lectures about trains and travel. He was declared officially bankrupt by the High Court in 1972, but try as he might to hide it from the inevitable, the locomotive was ultimately liquidated from Pegler.

In 1966, Alan Pegler also purchased a boiler and cylinder parts from its scrapped sister locomotive, 60041 *Salmon Trout*. The boiler is housed at the National Railway Museum in York.

### William McAlpine

Fears then arose for the engine's future, the speculation being that he might remain in the US or even be broken up. After Alan Bloom made a personal phone call to him in January 1973, William McAlpine stepped in, dealt with the attorney, paid the creditors and bought the locomotive. He was welded to the deck of a cargo ship and returned to the UK via the Panama Canal in February 1973. On arrival at Liverpool, it was suggested that he should be put on a low-loader but Sir William insisted that he should travel under its own steam. The route to Derby was lined with crowds. Sir William paid for the locomotive's restoration at Derby Works and two subsequent overhauls in the 23 years that he owned and ran him.

## Today

Trial runs took place on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway: of which Sir William was Chairman, in summer 1973, after which it was transferred to Steamtown (Carnforth), from where he steamed on regular tours. In December 1977, *Flying Scotsman* entered the Vickers Engineering Works, Barrow-in-Furness, for heavy repairs, including an unused replacement boiler.

In October 1988, at the invitation of the Australian Government *Flying Scotsman* arrived in Australia to take part in the country's bicentenary celebrations as a central attraction in the Aus Steam '88 festival. The event organisers had been interested in having the A4 No. 4468 Mallard visit, but he was unavailable due to the 50th anniversary of its world record high-speed run, and 4472 was recommended as its replacement. During the course of the next year *Flying Scotsman* travelled more than 45,000 kilometres (28,000 mi) over Australian rails, concluding with a return transcontinental run from Sydney to Perthvia Alice Springs in which it became the first steam locomotive to travel on the recently-built standard gauge Central Australia Railway.

Other highlights included *Flying Scotsman* double-heading with New South Wales Government Railways Pacific locomotive 3801, a triple-parallel run alongside broad gauge Victorian Railways R Class locomotives, and parallel runs alongside South Australian Railways locomotives 520 and 621. His visit to Perth saw a reunion with GWR 4073 Class 4079 *Pendennis Castle*, which had been exhibited alongside *Flying Scotsman* at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. On 8 August 1989 *Flying Scotsman* set another record en route to Alice Springs from Melbourne, travelling 679 kilometres (422 mi) from Parkes to Broken Hill non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded. The same journey also saw *Flying Scotsman* set his own haulage record when he took a 735-ton train over the 790-kilometre (490 mi) leg between Tarcoola and Alice Springs.

*Flying Scotsman* returned to Britain in 1990 and continued working on the main line until his mainline certificate expired in 1993. 4472 then toured preserved railways after being returned to BR condition, with the refitting of the German-style smoke deflectors and double chimney, and repainting in BR Brunswick green. By 1995 it was in pieces at Southall Railway Centre in West London, awaiting his next overhaul, owned by a consortium that included McAlpine as well as music guru and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman.

### Tony Marchington

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, already well known in the vintage movement, bought the locomotive, and had him restored over three years to running condition at a cost of £1 million, a restoration which, at the time, was recognised as the most extensive in the locomotive's history. Marchington's time with the *Flying Scotsman* was documented in a documentary, the Channel 4 programme *A Steamy Affair: The Story of Flying Scotsman*. This time around, for an initial short period, he still retained the double chimney, but without the German Smoke Deflectors, and he was repainted in the LNER Livery. Shortly afterwards, the German smoke deflectors were refitted. He also still carried the redundant A4 boiler.

With *Flying Scotsman's* regular use both on the VSOE Pullman and with other events on the main line, in 2002, Marchington proposed a business plan, which included the construction of a "Flying Scotsman Village" in Edinburgh, to create revenue from associated branding. After floating on OFEXas Flying Scotsman plc in the same year, in 2003 Edinburgh City Council turned down the village plans, and in September 2003 Marchington was declared bankrupt. At the company's AGM in October 2003, CEO Peter Butler announced losses of £474,619, and with a £1.5 million overdraft at Barclays Bank and stated that the company only had enough cash to trade until April 2004. The company's shares were suspended from OFEX on 3 November 2003 after he had failed to declare interim results.

### National Railway Museum

In February 2004, a debt agency acting on behalf of Flying Scotsman plc announced he would hold a sealed bid auction for the locomotive, to be held on April 2, 2004. Amid media fears he could be sold into foreign hands, the National Railway Museum in York announced he would bid and appealed for funds. They succeeded with a bid of £2.3 million, 15% higher than the second highest.

The bulk of the money came from a £1.8m grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, with the remainder coming from £350,000 raised from donations, which was matched by Richard Branson, with another £70,000 raised by the *Yorkshire Post* newspaper. Included in the sale was the A3 pattern spare boiler (built in 1944 and carried by *Flying Scotsman* from 1965 to 1978), spare cylinders and a Mk1 support coach. The locomotive arrived in York in time to be exhibited as part of the museum's Railfest 2004, a celebration of 200 years of rail travel.

Under pressure from donors, instead of being placed on static display he was decided to use the locomotive for charter trains out of York, as well as on the *Scarborough Spa Express* (York to Scarborough), although problems with his condition soon became apparent. Having failed on the delivery trip to Railfest, arriving on tow, after considerable remedial work it then proceeded to fail numerous times in the following months, with the museum's engineering staff kept constantly busy effecting running repairs, but failed to spot critical faults that would delay the subsequent overhauls and restoration. From September 2004 until May 2005 he was put into the workshops for a heavy intermediate repair, the intention being to improve reliability and allow operation until its heavy general repair (overhaul) and restoration. The intermediate repair failed to improve reliability, and so the decision was taken to go ahead with the overhaul and restoration.

## Overhaul 2006–2016

In January 2006, *Flying Scotsman* duly entered the National Railway Museum's workshops for its most extensive major overhaul to date in order to return it to Gresley's original specification and to renew its boiler certificate. It was initially estimated that this would only take one year and cost around £750,000. The bay in which the locomotive was being refurbished was on view to visitors to the NRM, but the locomotive was rapidly dismantled to such an extent that the running plate was the only component recognizable to the casual observer.

In anticipation of the restoration, the spare A3 boiler had been dispatched in June 2005 to Riley & Son to be completely rebuilt. It was to be used instead of the A4 boiler both out of the desire to restore the locomotive to original condition, and because it was deemed that the A4 boiler had deteriorated into a worse state than the spare due to the higher operating pressures the locomotive had experienced following the up-rating of the locomotive to 250psi during its last private overhaul. Deemed surplus to requirements, the A4 boiler was sold to Jeremy Hosking for potential use on his locomotive, 4464 *Bittern*.

In July 2007, the museum pushed back the expected completion date by 18 months, due in part to issues with the boiler restoration. By January 2009, with further problems encountered including misaligned frames and a cracked right hand cylinder, as well as due to rising metal prices, the museum launched the SOS (Save Our Scotsman) appeal, seeking to raise a further £250,000, hoping to complete the work by 2010. In May 2011, the locomotive was unveiled on the museum's turntable, finished in wartime black LNER livery; following final testing he was planned to finish it in LNER apple green and have it running excursions by the summer. In June 2011, cracks were discovered in the horn blocks, which led to further testing which discovered numerous latent cracks throughout the frame assembly, leading to the replacement of the main stretcher bar, horn ties and middle cylinder motion bracket, all of which were deemed beyond repair.

In October 2012, with the project still unfinished, the museum published a report examining the reasons for the delay and additional cost. He found that the museum had greatly underestimated the work required due to the poor condition of the locomotive, much of which had been missed by a rushed inspection, which produced an overly optimistic assessment which was not based on engineering realities. He also found that once the project was underway, management lacked the experience, continuity or resources to undertake such a complex task, which was also hampered by illness and recruitment issues. Although the museum had a formal contract system to manage suppliers, managers failed to implement it properly, and he was ill-suited to the cottage industry nature of the heritage railway sector which the suppliers were largely drawn from, many of whom had failed to meet their contractual targets. Problems were also caused by the conflicting objectives of producing a certified main line locomotive while retaining as many original components and assemblies as possible, and between the need to overhaul the locomotive and use him as a marketing tool for the museum. The report recommended that the NRM consider the scope, size and responsibilities of their project management and engineering functions, and their contracting policy.

Following the report, the NRM commissioned First Class Partnerships (FCP) to independently review the remaining work identified as necessary by the NRM, and make recommendations on how to proceed. In March 2013, the museum announced FCP had determined the locomotive would not return to the main line until 2015, and believed the outstanding work should be put out to external tender. On October 29, 2013 the museum announced Riley & Son in Bury, Greater Manchester as the winning contractor, and the same day the locomotive was moved to their workshop in order to return him to running condition no earlier than the summer of 2015. On April 29, 2015, *Flying Scotsman*'s boiler left the National Railway Museum to be reunited with the rest of the locomotive at Riley & Son in Bury.

### Return to service

The overhaul was finally completed in January 2016 and testing began on the East Lancashire Railway on January 8, 2016, with the locomotive still wearing his 2011 Wartime Black livery with the numbers 60103 on the smokebox and its appropriate LNER Wartime numbers, 103 and 502, on the cab sides. *Flying Scotsman* was originally going to haul its inaugural mainline train called the *Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express* from Manchester Victoria to Carlisle on January 23, 2016, but it was not ready due to faulty brakes.[46] The first mainline run, pulling the *Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express* from Carnforth to Carlisle, took place on February 6, 2016. An inaugural journey from London King's Cross to York in British Railways Brunswick Green livery ran on February 25, 2016. However, during this event, railway enthusiasts accidentally stopped *Flying Scotsman* due to their trespassing on the line near St Neots. *Flying Scotsman* made special tours throughout Great Britain in 2016.

In September 2016, the museum announced the final cost of the restoration as £4.5 million, having risen from a £4.2m estimate released in summer 2015 due to further work being necessary, and the need to meet the deadline for the return to service. On March 31, 2017, the *Flying Scotsman* was chosen to lead an excursion train for the reopening of the Settle–Carlisle line due to the damage caused by a landslip in late 2015 and early 2016.

## In Popular Culture

* The Flying Scotsman is seen in the 2000 Disney movie, "102 Dalmatians".
* In 2011, a Tri-ang Hornby model of Flying Scotsman appeared in two episodes of James May's Toy Stories.
* The Flying Scotsman is seen multiple times in Thomas & Friends. The first time in Tender Engines, First CGI appearance in The Great Race and the last time in A New Arrival.
* The Flying Scotsman is featured in the 2018 video game "Railway Empire".
* The Flying Scotsman is a playable locomotive in the 2001 PC simulation game "Microsoft Train Simulator*"*.
* The Flying Scotsman is a playable locomotive made by various creators in various forms throughout the game franchise "Trainz*"*.
* The Flying Scotsman is featured in the 2018 racing video game "Forza Horizon 4".

## References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20190814133222if\_/http://www.townend.me/files/drawings%20-%20lner%20pacifics/a1.JPG
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814133200if\_/http://www.townend.me/files/drawings%20-%20lner%20pacifics/a3-new%20tender.JPG
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814152035if\_/http://www.vapeuretmodelesavapeur.com/telechargement5/vapeur-flying-scotman-32mm-2015.pdf#page=1
* https://ia802905.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/14/items/ConciseIllustratedBookOfSteamTrains/Concise%20Illustrated%20Book%20of%20Steam%20Trains\_jp2.zip&file=Concise%20Illustrated%20Book%20of%20Steam%20Trains\_jp2/Concise%20Illustrated%20Book%20of%20Steam%20Trains\_0005.jp2&scale=13.081632653061224&rotate=0
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814111158/https://www.lner.info/locos/A/a1a3a10.php
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814111640/http://www.docbrown.info/docspics/ArchiveSteam/loco60103.htm
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814115804/https://www.flyingscotsman.org.uk/timeline
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814122717if\_/https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-03/flying-scotsman-resource-pack-May2016.pdf#page=5
* https://web.archive.org/web/20190814121225if\_/https://doc-08-bk-apps-viewer.googleusercontent.com/viewer/secure/pdf/3nb9bdfcv3e2h2k1cmql0ee9cvc5lole/dv1k0b3qr131d7nm47ntg2s4rndv0u20/1565784600000/lantern/\*/ACFrOgAeRom0oo7OEHvf-ptqsCgcYDMFuaRCG8w1soDYUhXmbP6dL5pUIPwi5qZb0J5Ef8XpkD5CXhnFlouoRbpCpzsy78zw\_YP1ZvJYld6sANNd3YWu-yzYnMkNsURTn5GeZiWGtVQb8igtwebd?print=true#page=1
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814120517if\_/https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2017/06/flying\_scotsman\_report\_october\_2012.pdf#page=1
* http://web.archive.org/web/20190814130626/http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r003.html
* http://wikivisually.com/wiki/LNER\_Class\_A3\_4472\_Flying\_Scotsman
* http://wikivisually.com/wiki/Gangway\_connection#Locomotives\_(corridor\_tenders)
* https://books.google.com/books?id=Kj7LAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT7&dq=In+the+early-1950s,+Flying+Scotsman,+the+world%27s+most+famous+steam+locomotive,&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwig3pLywoLkAhXMGM0KHfZtBHcQ6AEwAHoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=In%20the%20early-1950s%2C%20Flying%20Scotsman%2C%20the%20world's%20most%20famous%20steam%20locomotive%2C&f=true

## Trivia

* Flying Scotsman is the only LNER Gresley Pacific in preservation that isn’t an A4, and the one of the few non-streamlined LNER locomotives to be preserved.
* Flying Scotsman has also travelled in three different countries (the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Australia), making it the only locomotive in the world to have done so.
* During Flying Scotsman's Australian Tour, Flying Scotsman was coupled to two VR R class broad gauge locomotives. This was done on a section of dual gauge track in Melbourne. A video of this event can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uq6UKiGp1I
* Flying Scotsman is the oldest mainline working locomotive in the UK, having a 100 year working life.

## Related Sites

* LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman from Wikipedia