By After a successful and busy centenary year in 2023, Flying Scotsman‘s future was unclear at the start of this year. Now we are being drip fed more news as 2024 progresses.
Flying Scotsman is owned by the National Railway Museum (NRM).
UPDATE 18/12/2024 – Woah! Two updates in two days! A waterfall of info! The National Railway Museum has just issued the following…
Headline: National Railway Museum sign agreement with Flying Scotsman custodian (Didn’t they do that back in June when they signed the contract?!)
The National Railway Museum is today delighted to announce that the museum has reached agreement with Flying Scotsman’s custodian, Northern Steam Operations Limited (NSOL), on future arrangements for the locomotive and how the two parties will work together in the future.
The agreement reflects the hard work that NSOL have put in over the past months to contract operating and promoter teams. NSOL has held productive conversations with various heritage railways, and Flying Scotsman is likely to be back in steam as early as February 2025.
A further announcement will be made once the details of Flying Scotsman’s future schedule have been finalised.
Flying Scotsman is currently on display at Locomotion in Shildon, where it will remain for visitors to enjoy over the Christmas and early new year period.
In 2024, almost 320,000 people have viewed, climbed aboard or taken a ride on the iconic locomotive during its stays at the National Railway Museum and Locomotion
UPDATE 17/12/2024 – Still no news on Flying Scotsman’s future, however a National Railway Museum spokesman told me yesterday: “we are expecting to be able to make our next announcement on Flying Scotsman early next year”, and that there might be some FS-related news before Christmas.
UPDATE 25/10/2024 – STOP PRESS! The National Railway Museum has announced… there is no news… but there will be…. sometime.
UPDATE 24/09/2024 – Over three weeks since the last official event (end of Shildon programme) and still no news on any mainline trips or anything at all from the National Railway Museum. I’m calling it: Flying Scotsman has been captured by aliens!
UPDATE 22/07/2024 – Still no news on any mainline trips, but it appears Flying Scotsman’s stay at Shildon has been extended to 1st September.
UPDATE 12/07/2024 – Flying Scotsman is moving back to the Locomotion museum in Shildon for four weeks between 20 Jul – 18 Aug. While there, she’ll operate short passenger rides, there will be an opportunity to ride on the footplate, and there will be a chance to climb into the cab on certain days when she is on static display. See dates below and on the Locomotion website for details and bookings.
UPDATE 04/06/2024 – We finally have some news on the future of Flying Scotsman… if not firm dates.
A new company has been contracted to manage and maintain Flying Scotsman through to January 2032.
The new custodian is Northern Steam Operations Ltd (NSO), run by Northern Steam Engineering Ltd based in Stockton-on-Tees. They are now responsible for maintenance and day to day operations, as well as provision for a future mechanical overhaul to enable the locomotive to continue operating on the main line rail network.
Under the new contract, NSO will operate frequent, shorter trips to enable more people to access Flying Scotsman without increasing the number of running days. However her programme has now been severely curtailed. The new contract will see up to 30 days of static display, 15 heritage railway operating days and 20 main line excursion days each year…. which begs the question: what will she be doing on the remaining 300 days a year?
Flying Scotsman‘s next confirmed appearance in 2024 is scheduled, as mentioned above, to be at Locomotion in Shildon over the summer “with dates expected to be confirmed soon”. Let’s hope so. I would have said, it being June, it is already summer!
I would also expect some news on mainline excursions to break soon. I would be very surprised if the main excursion operators have not already scheduled their autumn trips in anticipation of Flying Scotsman‘s return, so that as soon as they know her availability, they can swap out the previously booked locomotives with Flying Scotsman at short notice.
UPDATE – 8/03/2024 The search for a new custodian/operator for Flying Scotsman has begun.
The Science Museum Group (National Railway Museum’s parent) has just published an Invitation to Tender (ITT). The successful bidder will be contracted to run Flying Scotsman for 7½ years from 3 June 2024 until 31 January 2032. Tender responses will be evaluated on both price and quality and scored on a series of criteria including previous experience, technical ability, public engagement, staffing, project management and sustainability.
Judith McNicol, Director of the National Railway Museum, says: “We will create a public engagement calendar that includes main line excursions, heritage railway visits and display at the National Railway Museum and Locomotion.” However the tender includes an undisclosed limit on annual mileage to ensure a balance between operational requirements and conservation.
So, Flying Scotsman’s excursions programme, which we still expect to start in the autumn, will be markedly less busy than it was last year and in previous years.
Flying Scotsman Programme for 2024
(Last Updated: 04/08/2024)
| 20 – 25 Jul | LOC | Short steam trips on the Locomotion display track | Short rides on the footplate (Sold out already) and in the brake van, every 20 minutes |
| 27 Jul – 11 Aug | LOC | On static display at Locomotion | Visitors can access the cab |
| 13 – 18 Aug | LOC | Short trips on the Locomotion display track | Short rides on the footplate (Sold out already) and in the brake van, every 20 minutes |
| 19 – 22 Aug | LOC | On static display at Locomotion | Visitors can access the cab |
| 23 – 29 Aug | LOC | Short trips on the Locomotion display track | Short rides on the footplate (Virtually sold out at the time of writing, just one ticket left on 29th!) and in the brake van, every 20 minutes |
NRM = National Railway Museum
ELR = East Lancashire Railway
RTC = The Railway Touring Company
SDR = The Steam Dreams Rail Company
KWV = Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
LOC = Locomotion Museum
A1 = A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
MNR = Mid-Norfolk Railway
BBL = Bluebell Railway Trust
SRT = Swanage Railway Trust
STP = Strathspey Railway
Flying Scotsman – the historic locomotive
Built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works, Flying Scotsman was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley as part of the A1 class – the most powerful locomotives used by the railway. She was quickly used by LNER for their long-distance express services, notably on the long-running (62 yrs) daily 10.00am London to Edinburgh ‘Flying Scotsman’ train service after which she was named.
She still holds two world records: the longest non-stop run at 441 miles (8 Aug 1989 in Australia), and the first steam locomotive officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (30 Nov 1934 in the UK).
The public’s enthusiasm and interest in Flying Scotsman remains unabated. NRM says that 51,751 people visited the NRM to see her during October half term and more than 37,500 came to see Flying Scotsman in light steam at Locomotion over Christmas. Everyone will be anticipating her return to the main line as soon as possible.
The Flying Scotsman numbers game…
It’s easy to get confused over the identity of the ‘Flying Scotsman’ because she is sometimes referred to by different engine numbers.
When she came out of the Doncaster Works on 24th Feb 1923, she was Engine No. 1472.
Within a year she was re-numbered No. 4472, given the name ‘Flying Scotsman’, and introduced to the public at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition.
Then, in 1948, when the independent rail companies were nationalised and merged into British Railways, ‘Flying Scotsman’ became No. 60103.
Image: Flying Scotsman Flying Scotsman coming into Burntisland, Scotland – Magnus Hagdorn (CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)
Hello can any one help my father Garth George Mitchell was a driver of the flying Scotsman he recently died he was 93 we would like to donate all his paper work and items he saved from his many years on the steam trains to the museum also it was suggested we could hold a small happy memorial party on the train with the opportunity to put his ashes in the fire box burner ..I really don’t know where to start but I would be so happy that his love and dedication as a young man for his beloved steam trains finally is completed .thankyou any one who could help Victoria Georgina Mitchell his only daughter.
Hi Victoria, What an interesting legacy! And yes, it should be housed somewhere for the benefit of railway enthusiasts and historians. The obvious place would be the National Railway Museum in York, who own Flying Scotsman, and I hope you don’t mind but I have passed your request and contact details to their Press officer who, I’m sure, will see it gets to the right person.
Need a trip in in October 27th to 28th
I hear you! The trouble is, the National Railway Museum are being incredibly slow releasing details of her schedule. I think, the major mainline tour operators (IE Steam Dreams and Railway Touring Company) have got October tours already scheduled with other locomotives, and at some point soon, we’ll suddenly hear that they have swopped out the scheduled loco for Flying Scotsman. I’m watching for that, but if anybody gets news ahead of me, let me know. It is very frustrating for everyone to have so little info from NRM.
Hi Alastair we are trying to book a trip in September. How can we keep an eye on the release of dates & avoid missing out? Donna
Hi Donna, That’s really not easy. As much as we all love the National Railway Museum, they are as secretive as Bletchley Park when it comes to keeping everyone informed about the latest schedule for Flying Scotsman. At the moment, we know nothing more than she’ll be at Locomotion in Shildon until 1st Sept. My tip is to keep your eye on three sites: Rail Advent have their ear close to the ground and usually get news just before me. And the two mainline day trip operators, Railway Touring Company and Steam Dreams have day trips scheduled in the autumn and I’m sure the minute they get the go-ahead, they will swop out the scheduled locomotive for Flying Scotsman on some of those trips. I personally would keep an eye on RTC’s ‘The Waverley’ trip on 8th Sep. That’s one the Flying Scotsman usually hauls.
We’ve had plans to see it at NRM before the posted “mid July” timeframe. we were told on June 19th by the museum that it would be there for our visit date but now being told it will leave the museum on July 1st. Does anyone have insight as to where it is headed for the first part of July?
Interesting. Thanks for this, Derek.
No, I’ve not seen anything on a 1st July departure.
Anyone…? I’ll update as soon as I hear.
Thanks for this update, Alastair. I’d be very keen to know if there were to be any trips in September/October 2024.
Sally, Melbourne Australia.
March 2024
Hi Sally, yes I’ll post any details of autumn trips as soon as I hear of any 🙂
I would really like to be informed when and if the Flying scotsman is available to ride -many thanks
It will probably not be until the autumn, Yvonne. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any announcements.
I Would like to know when the flying Scotsman steam train will be going to Edinburgh
Please let me know by email
Thanks
Daphne sheldrake
Sorry Daphne, No need for an email. There are no scheduled trips to Edinburgh that I am aware of. FS is on static display at the NRM in York till the summer. Maybe later this year there will be some trips, but none have been announced yet.
Us the Svotmam stopping over in Scotla d in May so we can go and.see her?? We have family over from Australia
Hi Vyonne. It’s hard to say where Flying Scotsman will be in May. She’s on static display at the National Railway Museum in York at the moment, and will move to Locomotion at Shildon (https://maps.app.goo.gl/qJu76BXMpH1RTMNEA) in “the summer”. Until there’s a further update, we just don’t know when “the summer” starts.
I am quite surprised that the NRM have not contacted Ian Riley as he saved them when their restoration of Scotsman went seriously wrong and three lorryloads of Scotsman arrived at his loco works at Heywood for him and.his engineers to sort out. Common courtesy seems to have disappeared even withcom 20024 the NRM.
It does seem odd.
Is the flying scotsman to visit Scotland again if so when and where.
Good questions. We are all waiting for answers 🙂