Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon is pleased to confirm that the world’s most famous steam locomotive No. 60103 Flying Scotsman will attend the museum’s Autumn Steam Gala on Saturday 16 September & Sunday 17 September 2017.
Flying Scotsman was originally built in Doncaster for the London and North Eastern Railway, emerging from the works on February 24 1923, and initially numbered 1472. It was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley as part of the A1 class – the most powerful locomotives used by the railway.
By 1924, when it was selected to appear at the British Empire Exhibition in London, the locomotive had been renumbered 4472 – and been given the name Flying Scotsman, after the London to Edinburgh rail service which started daily at 10am in 1862.
The British Empire Exhibition made Flying Scotsman famous, and it went on to feature in many more publicity events for the LNER. In 1928, it was given a new type of tender with a corridor, which meant that a new crew could take over without stopping the train. This allowed it to haul the first ever non-stop London to Edinburgh service on May 1, reducing the journey time to eight hours.
In 1934, Flying Scotsman was clocked at 100mph on a special test run – officially the first locomotive in the UK to have reached that speed. In 2004, the National Railway Museum purchased the locomotive as part of the national collection. In 2016 Flying Scotsman took to the rails as part of its inaugural run, in which thousands of trainspotters and steam fans witnessed a new date in history.
Flying Scotsman will be joined at the Autumn Steam Gala event by another guest locomotive, BR Standard Class 2MT No. 78018 – made famous in the film “Snowdrift at Bleath Gill”.
Gary Campbell, Locomotion Museum Manager, said: “We’re delighted to be able to provide a chance to view this iconic locomotive. Flying Scotsman has attracted thousands of visitors since its inaugural run in 2016 and we look forward to the locomotive making an appearance at Shildon which is steeped in railway history.”