How every fact on this site was checked
106 facts. Each one is in our own words, each one has a source, and each one was checked against that source on 10 November 2026.
How we check
We read each source and wrote each fact in our own words. Our build stores the text of every source page, and for each fact it checks that the key words and figures, the “checks” in the table, really appear on the source page. If any check fails, the site does not build. Where good sources disagree, we show each version in a “Sources differ” box rather than picking one. Anything that is our own reading, rather than a sourced fact, is labelled Our opinion. The drawings are our own and simplified, and their colours are approximate.
Some museum pages would not load for our checker directly. For those we read the Internet Archive’s saved copy of the same page, and the link still goes to the original.
Known disagreements
- Into service. Went into service on 24 February 1923 (National Railway Museum, history page), or “outshopped” from Doncaster Works on 27 February 1923 (National Railway Museum press release, 2016).
- Weight. 97 tonnes (National Railway Museum, history page; BBC, 2023) or about 96 tonnes (BBC, 2016; museum blog, 2016).
- Miles travelled. More than two million by 1963 (BBC, 2023); some 2,500,000 in its lifetime by 2016 (museum blog). These measure different periods.
- First to 100mph. Officially the first in the UK, in 1934 (National Railway Museum); some claim City of Truro reached 102mph in 1904 (BBC, 2016).
- Restoration cost. £4.2m (National Railway Museum history page; BBC, 2016) or a final £4,537,892 (National Railway Museum, September 2016).
What we left out
- Flying Scotsman’s numbers between 1946 and 1948 are not given in our sources, so the year dial and the drawings skip them.
- The exact dates of each colour change are not all in our sources, so the drawings show the order of the colours, not exact years.
- Flying Scotsman’s running dates change every year. We don’t list upcoming events; check the National Railway Museum before travelling.
- Our note on what 4-6-2 means is our own explanation, not a quoted fact.
The log
| # | Fact | Source | Checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 at Doncaster Works, and it cost £7,944. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 2 | It was the first locomotive of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway, the LNER. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 3 | The National Railway Museum’s history page says it went into service on 24 February 1923, numbered 1472. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 4 | A National Railway Museum press release from 2016 says it was ‘outshopped’ from Doncaster Works as number 1472 on 27 February 1923. | National Railway Museum press release: Museum announces final cost of steam legend’s return (23 September 2016) | 2 passed |
| 5 | The National Railway Museum celebrated its 100th birthday on 24 February 2023. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 6 | It was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley as one of his A1 class, the most powerful locomotives the LNER had at the time. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 7 | It started life as just another of Gresley’s A1 class, and is now thought of as the most famous locomotive in the world. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 8 | It was among the first of Gresley’s 4-6-2 ‘Pacific’ locomotives built for the LNER. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman steam train celebrates 100 years (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 9 | It is the only one of its class that has been preserved. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman steam train celebrates 100 years (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 10 | The National Railway Museum calls it the sole survivor of its class. | National Railway Museum press release: Museum announces final cost of steam legend’s return (23 September 2016) | 1 passed |
| 11 | A fault was found in its first year and it was taken out of service, then refitted and renumbered for the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. | National Railway Museum blog: Flying Scotsman Centenary: 100 Years of Memories (24 February 2023) | 2 passed |
| 12 | By 1924, picked to appear at the British Empire Exhibition in London, it had been renumbered 4472 and named Flying Scotsman. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 13 | The name came from the daily 10.00 train from London to Edinburgh, a service that started in 1862. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 14 | The exhibition made Flying Scotsman famous, and the LNER went on to use it in many more publicity events. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 15 | On 12 August 1925, at the exhibition at Wembley Park, King George V and Queen Mary asked to see inside its cab, and the King sat in the driver’s seat. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 2 passed |
| 16 | A silver medal made in 1924 shows the locomotive with its number 4472, noting it was originally 1472 and designed by H N Gresley. | Science Museum Group Collection: Flying Scotsman medal, 1924 (object 1984-500) | 1 passed |
| 17 | A coloured print from about 1924, now in the Science Museum Group Collection, shows it in the colours it wore at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. | Science Museum Group Collection: print of LNER 4-6-2 No 4472 Flying Scotsman, about 1924 (object 1977-7406) | 1 passed |
| 18 | In 1928 it was given a new tender with a corridor, so a fresh crew could take over without the train stopping. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 19 | The corridor let the driver and fireman walk through to the carriages, so crews could swap mid-journey. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 20 | On 1 May 1928 it hauled the first ever non-stop London to Edinburgh service, cutting the journey to eight hours. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 21 | Before that first non-stop run, the Lord Mayor of London stood on the footplate with Nigel Gresley, Driver Pibworth and William Teasdale. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 22 | The LNER advertised the service as ‘The Most Famous Train in the World’. | National Railway Museum blog: Flying Scotsman Centenary: 100 Years of Memories (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 23 | It starred in British cinema’s first ‘talkie’, in 1929. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 24 | Its trains carried new comforts such as a cinema car, a cocktail bar and a hairdressing salon. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 25 | Flying Scotsman is also a passenger service that has run on the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh since 1924. | National Railway Museum: Flying Scotsman: 100 Years, 100 Voices | 1 passed |
| 26 | Before 1924 that service was known as the Special Scotch Express, which dates back to 1862. | National Railway Museum: Flying Scotsman: 100 Years, 100 Voices | 1 passed |
| 27 | In May 1968, 40 years after the first non-stop run, it ran non-stop from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh again. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 28 | The Special Scotch Express was nicknamed ‘the Flying Scotchman’ as early as 1862; railwaymen tended to call it ‘the 10am’, the time the two trains left Edinburgh and London. | National Railway Museum: Flying Scotsman: 100 Years, 100 Voices | 2 passed |
| 29 | In 1934 it was clocked at 100mph on a special test run, officially the first locomotive in the UK to reach that speed. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 30 | The run showed the LNER’s directors that steam could give high speeds, which ended a plan to use diesel power on its fast services. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 31 | Nigel Gresley, driver Bill Sparshatt and fireman R Webster were photographed at King’s Cross after the 100mph run. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 32 | Its engine record card includes a note of the 100mph it reached. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 33 | The LNER made sure the authenticated 100mph was covered in the national press. | National Railway Museum blog: Flying Scotsman Centenary: 100 Years of Memories (24 February 2023) | 2 passed |
| 34 | Some claim the locomotive City of Truro was first past 100mph, in 1904, when it apparently reached 102mph running down a slope. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 2 passed |
| 35 | The National Railway Museum describes it as officially the first steam locomotive to reach 100mph. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 36 | In 1989, in Australia, it set the world record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive: 422 miles. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 37 | It was the first steam locomotive to go right round the world, on its voyage to Australia and back. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 38 | Back in action in 2016, it took another record: the oldest mainline working locomotive on Britain’s tracks. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 39 | The A4 locomotive Mallard set the world speed record for steam, 126mph, on 3 July 1938, and that record still stands. | National Railway Museum: Mallard 75 | 2 passed |
| 40 | Mallard’s streamlined, wedge-shaped A4 design looked nothing like the A3 class that Flying Scotsman belongs to. | National Railway Museum: Mallard 75 | 1 passed |
| 41 | Before Mallard, the British steam record was 114mph, held by the LMS. | National Railway Museum: Mallard 75 | 1 passed |
| 42 | The steam world record before Mallard had been set in Germany in May 1935, at 124.5mph. | National Railway Museum: Mallard 75 | 1 passed |
| 43 | Mallard’s crew claimed 125mph; the speed record later suggested 126mph, and Gresley chose not to mention it because that speed lasted less than a mile. | National Railway Museum: Mallard 75 | 3 passed |
| 44 | The National Railway Museum gives its weight as 97 tonnes. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 45 | A BBC report from 2016 says it weighs about 96 tonnes. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 46 | It is 70ft long, about 21 metres. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 47 | The BBC gives its top speed as 100mph. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 48 | LNER passenger locomotives had always been painted Apple Green. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 49 | In the Second World War it was painted wartime black, like all railway stock. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 50 | After the war it was green again and was rebuilt as an A3 Pacific. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 51 | The National Railway Museum dates its conversion to the A3 class to 1947. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 52 | British Railways was formed in 1948, and Scotsman, now number 60103, was painted blue for a time, then BR Green. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 53 | British Rail retired it in 1963, after 40 years of pulling trains, as steam engines were becoming old-fashioned. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 54 | By the time it retired from regular service in 1963 it had covered more than two million miles. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman steam train celebrates 100 years (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 55 | By 2016, over more than nine decades, it had travelled some 2,500,000 miles. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 56 | Over its life it has had a constant turnover of parts, with changes to let it run in the 21st century. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 57 | The BR green chosen in 2016 reflects how it looked in the 1950s and early 1960s. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 58 | Repainting it by hand took about 20 litres of undercoat, 30 litres of gloss and around 20 litres of varnish. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 59 | It took 10 days to strip off the black paint and repaint it green. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 60 | Gresley (1876–1941) was the LNER’s Chief Mechanical Engineer, and the A4 locomotive No 4498 was named after him. | National Railway Museum: Mallard 75 | 2 passed |
| 61 | Gresley was born in Edinburgh. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman steam train celebrates 100 years (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 62 | In January 1963 Alan Pegler bought Flying Scotsman, with a complete overhaul as part of the deal. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 63 | It was changed back to a single chimney and painted in LNER colours again, with a corridor tender and permission to run on the main line. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 64 | It ran its last train for British Railways on 14 January 1963. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 65 | In 1969 it went to the United States on a tour meant to promote British exports. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 66 | The tour broke even in its first year, but lost money in its second. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 67 | A trip to San Francisco worked well on the rails but was a financial disaster: Pegler went bankrupt and the locomotive was stranded in the USA. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 68 | It toured the United States and Canada from 1969 until 1973. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman steam train celebrates 100 years (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 69 | A 1971 colour photograph in the Science Museum Group Collection shows 4472 in the United States. | Science Museum Group Collection: coloured photograph of No. 4472 Flying Scotsman in the USA, 1971 (object 2016-7115) | 1 passed |
| 70 | In 1973 William McAlpine heard what had happened, paid off the creditors, bought the locomotive and brought it home. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 71 | McAlpine had it restored at Derby Works and kept it running for 23 years, overhauling it thoroughly twice. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 72 | It toured Australia in 1988 and 1989. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman steam train celebrates 100 years (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 73 | Back in Britain it ran special trains, including regular runs over the Settle to Carlisle Railway and trips hauling the Orient Express Pullman. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 74 | In the early 1990s it was repaired again, and pop impresario Pete Waterman briefly went into partnership with Sir William to run it. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 75 | In February 1996 businessman Tony Marchington bought it outright for £1.25 million. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 76 | In 2004 another crisis over who owned it led to a campaign, spearheaded by the National Railway Museum, to save it for the nation. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 77 | The National Railway Museum bought it in 2004 for £2.3 million. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 78 | The appeal was supported by a £1.8 million grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and by the public. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 79 | The BBC reported £415,000 in public donations and a £365,000 gift from Sir Richard Branson. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 80 | Its restoration was helped by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £275,000. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 81 | From 2006 it went through a long restoration in the workshop of Riley & Son (E) Ltd. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 82 | The work was meant to finish in 2011 but was delayed when cracks were found in the chassis. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 83 | Riley and Sons of Bury, Greater Manchester, were appointed in 2013 to finish the job. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 84 | The project was completed in 2016, with the locomotive in BR Green as 60103, at a cost given as £4.2m. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 2 passed |
| 85 | In September 2016 the National Railway Museum put the full and final cost of the restoration at £4,537,892. | National Railway Museum press release: Museum announces final cost of steam legend’s return (23 September 2016) | 1 passed |
| 86 | More work than expected was needed on some parts, and a tight deadline to meet the first run, which pushed the cost up. | National Railway Museum press release: Museum announces final cost of steam legend’s return (23 September 2016) | 1 passed |
| 87 | In February 2016 it made its first run back, from London King’s Cross to the National Railway Museum in York, pulling 11 carriages. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 2 passed |
| 88 | That first run, between London and York, was set for 25 February 2016, its first official outing with its nameplates and new colours. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 2 passed |
| 89 | Still in black paint, it made test runs in Lancashire and Cumbria in January and February 2016. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman restoration completed with BR colours restored (2016) | 1 passed |
| 90 | Tens of thousands of people lined platforms and bridges to watch. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 91 | It arrived at Platform 9 in York at around 12.30pm. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 1 passed |
| 92 | It came top of a YouGov poll of the world’s most famous locomotive, ahead of Stephenson’s Rocket. | National Railway Museum blog: Restored, revitalised and ravishing: Flying Scotsman steams back into service (25 February 2016) | 2 passed |
| 93 | Today it is owned by the National Railway Museum in York, and operated and maintained by Riley & Son (E) Ltd of Heywood, Greater Manchester. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 94 | In 2023 the museum’s director called it the oldest steam locomotive on the main line. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 95 | On 12 June 2023, in its centenary year, it hauled the Royal Train into Pickering, with King Charles III aboard, on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 2 passed |
| 96 | For the Royal Train its roof was painted white and new lamps were fitted to the cab. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 97 | It had last hauled a Royal Train on 20 November 1984, carrying the Queen Mother to North Woolwich, where she opened a small railway museum. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 2 passed |
| 98 | Told when Scotsman was built, the Queen Mother replied that it was the year she was married. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 99 | For the centenary the Royal Mint made a £2 coin showing Flying Scotsman in colour. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 100 | Michael Morpurgo wrote a children’s book for the centenary: Flying Scotsman and the Best Birthday Ever. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 1 passed |
| 101 | Poet laureate Simon Armitage read a new poem, The Making Of The Flying Scotsman, at Edinburgh Waverley for its 100th anniversary. | BBC News: Flying Scotsman steam train celebrates 100 years (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 102 | A National Railway Museum curator calls it a ‘memory machine’. | National Railway Museum blog: Flying Scotsman Centenary: 100 Years of Memories (24 February 2023) | 1 passed |
| 103 | The National Railway Museum in York has the largest collection of railway objects in the world, with over 260 locomotives and rolling stock. | National Railway Museum press release: Flying Scotsman hauls Royal Train as part of centenary tour (12 June 2023) | 2 passed |
| 104 | Entry to the National Railway Museum is free. | National Railway Museum: The history of Flying Scotsman | 1 passed |
| 105 | Like all working steam locomotives, it has winter maintenance every year. | National Railway Museum press release: Museum announces final cost of steam legend’s return (23 September 2016) | 1 passed |
| 106 | Over 200,000 people saw it in 2016 at York, Shildon and heritage railway events after its return. | National Railway Museum press release: Museum announces final cost of steam legend’s return (23 September 2016) | 1 passed |