Flying Scotsman had a dismal year in 2024 when she remained virtually stationary, spending most of the year on static display at the National Railway Museum (NRM) sites in York & Shildon. Last year (2025) she was a little more active: 2 x single day mainline excursions and 4 x multi-day outings on heritage railways. The rest of the time she was again, on static display.
Until recently her programme for 2026 didn’t look much different, but now some details are appearing.
UPDATE – 23/12/2025: Flying Scotsman is headed for the East Lancashire Railway in June, where she will be on static display on seven days and hauling trains on their 8-mile track from Bury station to Rawtenstall station on five days. There are tickets for both events available right now, but you know the deal! They’ll be snapped up quick!
UPDATE – 19/12/2025: Good grief! Some mainline action!
Vintage Trains is taking her out for a spin in February, hauling a trainset of luxury Pullman coaches. Operating from Birmingham, there will be three Valentine’s Day (14 Feb) short trips to Stratford-upon-Avon.
Then at half-term (18, 19 & 20 Feb) they will run 1-hr Flying Scotsman mainline ‘experiences’ from Birmingham Moore Street… except FS will only haul the 30-min return journey. My guess is, that there is no loop or turntable available, so the diesel attached to the other end of the train (there’s always a diesel in case of breakdown) will haul the train outbound, then FS will haul it back to Moore St.
And there’s more…
Flying Scotsman will be visiting the Great Central Railway (GCR) in May.
The Great Central heritage railway runs steam and diesel trains on 7¾ miles of track between Loughborough Central Station and Leicester North Station. However their great Reunification project will connect that track to the rest of the Great Central line to the north, which would add a further 9 miles up to the Rushcliffe country park, outside Ruddington.
According to GCR, Flying Scotsman will haul services on the heritage line on the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 30th and 31st May 2026. And then on the 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th and 28th May, she’ll be on static display at Ruddington for footplate visits.
Flying Scotsman Programme for 2026
(Last Updated: 23/12/2025 )
| Date | Host | Activity | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01-08 Jan | NRM | Static display | On static display at York |
| 14 Feb | VTR | Valentine’s Day Trips | Flying Scotsman will haul three Valentine’s Shakespeare Express trains on 2hr return trips from Birmingham to Stratford-Upon-Avon, with brunch, afternoon tea or dinner service in Pullman carriages. |
| 18-20 Feb | VTR | Half-Term short trips | Five one hour trips daily from Birmingham Moore Street station. Slightly odd this one; the outbound trip is diesel-hauled, then FS takes over for the return journey. |
| 20-28 May | GCR | Static display | FS will be available for footplate visits at Ruddington on 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th and 28th May. |
| 23-31 May | GCR | Heritage railway trips | Flying Scotsman will haul multiple trips on 23rd, 24th, 25th, 30th and 31st May. |
| 03-12 June | ELR | Static display | FS will be on static display on 3rd(H), 4th(B), 10th(H), 11th(B) and 12th(B) June. At (B)ury or (H)eywood stations. |
| 05-14 June | ELR | Heritage railway trips | FS will haul trains from Bury to Rawtenstall on 5th(D), 6th(D) & 7th and then on 13th(D) & 14th June. (D=Dining). |
A1 = A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
BBL = Bluebell Railway Trust
BHR = Barrow Hill Roundhouse
DRC = Didcot Railway Centre
ELR = East Lancashire Railway
GCR = Great Central Railway
JGH = Just Go Holidays
KWV = Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
LOC = Locomotion, Shildon
MNR = Mid-Norfolk Railway
NRM = National Railway Museum
NVR = Nene Valley Railway
NYM = North Yorkshire Moors Railway
RTC = The Railway Touring Company
SDR = The Steam Dreams Rail Company
SRT = Swanage Railway Trust
STP = Strathspey Railway
URT = UK Railtours
VTR = Vintage Trains
WSR = West Somerset 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 on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in 2016 – Charlie Jackson (CC-BY-2.0)
