Flying Scotsman

The **Flying Scotsman**, an LNER Class A3 Pacific (formerly an LNER Class A1 Pacific), is the last of Gordon's brothers. In addition, Flying Scotsman has been described as the world's most famous steam locomotive. He is named after a service that runs from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley.

## Contents

* 1Biography
* 2Personality
* 3Technical Details
	+ 3.1Real-life History
	+ 3.2Livery
* 4Appearances
* 5Official Description
* 6Audio Files
* 7Trivia
* 8Merchandise
* 9Quotes
* 10Video
* 11References
* 12External Links

## Biography

Flying Scotsman (his name is not mentioned) once visited Sodor and his two tenders appeared emerging out of Brendam. The engines admired his two tenders (except Henry), which the Fat Controller said were due to long distances between coaling depots. Flying Scotsman was not referred to by name and Gordon did not appear to recognise him.

Much later, Flying Scotsman met Thomas at Vicarstown station, where he told him and Gordon that he had been invited to participate in the Great Railway Show on the Mainland. At the show, he saw Gordon in his streamlined form and was shocked, but still started to tease Gordon. He later competed in the Great Race, alongside Gordon, Spencer, Axel and Etienne. During the race, Flying Scotsman tried to warn Gordon that he was overheating, but Gordon paid no attention to him until his boiler had burst and he could not finish the race. Despite trying hard to win, he finished the race fourth, behind Etienne, Spencer and Axel. At the end of the Great Railway Show, Flying Scotsman and Gordon returned to the yard, where he admitted to Gordon that his view on Sudrian engines had improved since their race.

Flying Scotsman was the first engine to encounter Ace and had to avoid him running on the tracks instead of the road. Later that day, when Thomas tricked Gordon into taking his fish trucks for him at the back of the express, Flying Scotsman commented on the smell, jokingly wondering whether it was coming from Gordon or the fish. This sent Gordon screaming in rage at Thomas’ stunt.

When Rebecca was new to Sodor, she arrived too early at Vicarstown and almost took Flying Scotsman's passengers by mistake. He questioned who was behind him, sarcastically thinking it was Gordon. He then preceded to tease Gordon, calling him "little brother". Later that same evening, Flying Scotsman arrived back at Vicarstown and called Gordon "little brother" again. As a result, Rebecca commented on how she thought Gordon may be a bit bigger, leaving Flying Scotsman gobsmacked.

## Personality

In the television series, Flying Scotsman is a polite and proud engine; however he can be pompous and somewhat smug, like his brother Gordon. Despite being friendly with Thomas and giving him a pep talk, he thought that no famous engines came from Sodor and indicated that he viewed Sudrian engines with low expectations. He later changed his mind after seeing the Sudrian engines competing at the Great Railway Show, realising they were made of "sterner stuff" than he initially believed. Additionally, after meeting Rebecca for the second time, her opinion on the "little brother" status left something he never expected while giving Gordon a big laugh at the same time.

Flying Scotsman has a common sibling relationship with Gordon, and enjoys teasing him, referring to him as his "little brother" to annoy him, using his catchphrase as his own, or bragging about being invited to the Great Railway Show. He does care for him though, as shown when Gordon was overheating during the race and Flying Scotsman urgently warned him to stop.

## Technical Details

### Real-life History

Flying Scotsman is based upon the real locomotive of the same name, an A1 (later A3) Pacific built on the 23rd of February, 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works, to a design by Sir Nigel Gresley. In 1928, it pulled the LNER's first non-stop 'Flying Scotsman' service from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Central, equipped with a specially-built corridor tender allowing its crew to be changed mid-journey. Flying Scotsman set two world records for steam traction, initially becoming the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h) on 30th November 1934. In 1963 it was saved by Alan Pegler in 1963 and in 1969 it toured the United States of America but almost never returned home but did because of Bill McAlpine in 1972, it later set a record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive, where it ran 422 miles (approximately 679 km) on 8th August 1989 during its tour in Australia Which made it the First Steam train to go al the way around the world. As of 2019, Flying Scotsman is owned by the National Railway Museum, and can be found hauling main line railtours and visiting heritage railways across the United Kingdom.

Flying Scotsman in LNER service

Flying Scotsman in preservation

### Livery

In the television series, Flying Scotsman's livery is largely similar to that in the *Railway Series*, but with several differences. His cylinder covers are painted black with red lining, instead of green with white lining, and the outside of his frames is plain red. Flying Scotsman's front buffer beam in the television series is also missing several details, including his number and extra lining. Additionally, the lining on his tenders varies between his appearances in the model and CGI series. The sides of Flying Scotsman's cab in the television series also have his number 4472 painted on them instead of the crests, as well as extra lining which is not present on the real locomotive's apple green livery.

From 2016 onwards, Flying Scotsman is painted in BR Deep Bronze green with red lining and his number 60103 painted on the sides of his cab. He currently has one tender: the corridor tender that he was fitted with in 1928. His canteen tender was used for A4 No. 4464 Bittern at certain times in preservation. It is currently stored with Bittern at the former Hornby Factory in Margate as part of the planned *One:One Collection*.

When Flying Scotsman was first built as an A1, he was painted in L&NER apple green livery with white and black lining on his tender and boiler. He was nameless at the time, and he wore the running number 1472. On the 2nd of March 1924 he was renumbered 4472. On the 3rd of April 1943 he was repainted into wartime black. On the 21st of February 1946 he was renumbered 502 and on the 5th of May the same year he was numbered 103. On the 4th of January 1947 he was repainted back into LNER apple green. On the 15th of March 1948 he was renumbered E103 and on the 30th of December he was renumbered 60103. On the 16th of December 1949 he was repainted into BR express blue livery. On the 14th of March 1952 he was repainted into BR Deep Bronze green livery.

## Appearances

* Television Series
* Other Media

* **Series 22** - Confusion Without Delay
* **Series 23** - The Other Big Engine (*photo only*)
* **Series 24** - Thomas and the Royal Engine (*cameo*) and A New Arrival (*speaks in fantasy in the Latin American dub only*)

Specials* **2000** - Thomas and the Magic Railroad (*scrapped model cameo*)
* **2016** - The Great Race
* **2017** - Journey Beyond Sodor (*cameo*)
* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures!

Music Videos* **The Great Race** - The Shooting Star Is Coming Through and Be Who You Are, and Go Far (*cameo*)
* **Series 21** - Set Friendship in Motion

Learning Segments* Guess Who? Puzzles (*does not speak*)

Videos* **2016** - The Flying Scotsman (*does not speak*)
* **2018** - Meet Ace of Australia! (*cameo*) and Still the Best of Friends (*mentioned*)
* **2020** - Top 5 Jumps

Storytime* **Series 1** - The Story of Rebecca the Happy Engine

A scrapped model of one of Flying Scotsman's tenders can be seen as Thomas backs into the siding near James in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

## Official Description

* 2002-2009
* 2016-2021

**From Official Media:**[1]

**Fun Fact**: The Flying Scotsman was the second engine to go 100 miles an hour.

## Audio Files

**Whistles**

Flying Scotsman's Whistle is Neville's Whistle slightly lower, and Oliver's Original Whistle slightly higher pitch. Which is Gordon’s whistle but five steps high pitch.

In Brother Bother to Hurricane Helps Out from Thomas Creator Collective, Flying Scotsman incorrectly reuses Oliver's original whistle. Which is also Gordon’s whistle but some steps high pitch.

## Trivia

* Flying Scotsman was intended to have a larger role in the third series episode, Tender Engines; however, due to high build costs and reasons of budgeting, the modelling crew could not afford to build the entire engine.[1]
* In the CGI series, Flying Scotsman's double tenders incorrectly have six wheels each, as opposed to the eight wheels each on the real-life Flying Scotsman's tenders. Interestingly however, in real-life, when Flying Scotsman attended the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park from April 1924 to November 1925, he was fitted with a standard LNER six-wheel tender from a former LNER 'K3' Class 2-6-0 tender engine.
* In the model series, Flying Scotsman's double tenders were simply just two locomotive tenders coupled together; whereas in the CGI series, his first tender is a normal tender whilst his second tender is a water carrier. However, they both lack their corridor connections.
* In the CGI series the lining on his double tenders are incorrectly shaped as if they were for a fowler tender, an error that first appeared on his Hornby model.
* In The Great Race Flying Scotsman is shown to be able to move his smoke deflectors backwards and forwards, a feature which is not present on the real Flying Scotsman.
* Flying Scotsman's whistle is Neville's whistle at a slightly lower pitch, which is also Gordon’s whistle, but at a slightly higher pitch. In the Thomas Creator Collective, Flying Scotsman reuses Oliver's original whistle.
* Flying Scotsman's standard tender was reused for Duchess.
* Flying Scotsman calls Gordon "Little Brother" despite the fact that Gordon is actually older than him, because Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 while Gordon was built in 1920 as a prototype pacific. The nickname's origin actually comes from his extra tender, giving Flying Scotsman extra mass and length compared to his brother.
* Flying Scotsman's Ertl and Hornby toys depict him without his second tender as well as the first one being a Fowler tender.
* Flying Scotsman's Ertl toy reuses Gordon's tooling.
* Unlike the other TrackMaster/Motorized tender engines, Flying Scotsman is exclusively available as a three-pack engine, whereas most other engines eventually trickle down to two-packs. This is so that the Flying Scotsman still retains his signature double-tender status.
* The Flying Scotsman Postcard can be seen in a couple of Shining Time Station episodes on the postcard rack.

## Merchandise

* Ertl (*discontinued*)
* Wooden Railway (*1999, 2013 both discontinued*)
* TrackMaster (*discontinued*)
* Capsule Plarail
* Hornby (*discontinued*)
* Trading Cards (*discontinued*)
* Wood (*cancelled 2018, redesign announced but never released*)
* Motorized
* Minis

## Quotes

*“Oh wow! Who's this with two tenders? Hello, are you from the Other Railway? I was built on the Mainland you know. And once, a long time ago, I went back across with the other famous engines from Sodor.""Is that so? I didn't think there were famous engines on Sodor. Oh, hello Gordon.""Do you two know each other?""Yes, Thomas, we know each other. This is my brother. They call him; 'The Flying Scotsman'.""Indeed they do. It almost makes me sound famous, doesn't it? Oh, Gordon, I wanted to tell you my news! I've been invited to take part in the Great Railway Show on the Mainland, I shall be racing!""\*gasp\*""The Great Railway Show? What's that?""Oh, the Great Railway Show is where engines compete to see who's the fastest or the strongest or, what have you. But I'm not sure any engines from Sodor will be going.""I wouldn't want to go anyway, not if it's full of engines like you always boasting about how exciting things are on the Mainland!""Well, I want to go!""Of course you do, Thomas. And with any luck, maybe you shall. Flying Scotsman, coming through!”*
―Flying Scotsman meeting up with Thomas and Gordon at Vicarstown and Thomas telling Flying Scotsman the events of The Fat Controller's Engines, "The Great Race"