After a hectic centenary year in 2023, Flying Scotsman remained virtually stationary in 2024. She was supposed to be operating mainline and heritage line trips in the Autumn, but ended up spending all year on static display at the National Railway Museum sites in York & Shildon, with a few 1 kilometre (0.6 mile) rides on Shildon’s demo track in August.
Hopefully she will become operational again in 2025. The latest update (18/12/2024) anticipated that being in early February.
As usual, I’ll post any activity I hear of, here.
Flying Scotsman Programme for 2025
(Last Updated: )
| Date | Host | Activity | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
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, Shildon
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).
Flying Scotsman is owned by the National Railway Museum (part of the Science Museum Group). In June 2024 a new operator, Northern Steam Operations Limited (NSOL), was contracted to manage and run Flying Scotsman for 7½ years to 31 January 2032.
With conservation in mind, the new contract specified a reduced programme with up to 30 days of static display, 15 heritage railway operating days and 20 main line excursion days each year. It was not clear what she would be doing for the remaining 300 days.
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, she became No. 60103.
Image: Flying Scotsman – Charlie Jackson (CC-BY-2.0)
