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  1. 1 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 at Doncaster Works, and it cost £7,944. NRM
  2. 2 It was the first locomotive of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway, the LNER. NRM
  3. 3 The National Railway Museum’s history page says it went into service on 24 February 1923, numbered 1472. NRM
  4. 4 A National Railway Museum press release from 2016 says it was ‘outshopped’ from Doncaster Works as number 1472 on 27 February 1923. NRM, 2016
  5. 5 The National Railway Museum celebrated its 100th birthday on 24 February 2023. NRM, 2023
  6. 6 It was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley as one of his A1 class, the most powerful locomotives the LNER had at the time. NRM
  7. 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. NRM
  8. 8 It was among the first of Gresley’s 4-6-2 ‘Pacific’ locomotives built for the LNER. BBC, 2023
  9. 9 It is the only one of its class that has been preserved. BBC, 2023
  10. 10 The National Railway Museum calls it the sole survivor of its class. NRM, 2016
  11. 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. NRM blog, 2023
  12. 12 By 1924, picked to appear at the British Empire Exhibition in London, it had been renumbered 4472 and named Flying Scotsman. NRM
  13. 13 The name came from the daily 10.00 train from London to Edinburgh, a service that started in 1862. NRM
  14. 14 The exhibition made Flying Scotsman famous, and the LNER went on to use it in many more publicity events. NRM
  15. 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. NRM, 2023
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. 18 In 1928 it was given a new tender with a corridor, so a fresh crew could take over without the train stopping. NRM
  19. 19 The corridor let the driver and fireman walk through to the carriages, so crews could swap mid-journey. NRM blog, 2016
  20. 20 On 1 May 1928 it hauled the first ever non-stop London to Edinburgh service, cutting the journey to eight hours. NRM
  21. 21 Before that first non-stop run, the Lord Mayor of London stood on the footplate with Nigel Gresley, Driver Pibworth and William Teasdale. NRM
  22. 22 The LNER advertised the service as ‘The Most Famous Train in the World’. NRM blog, 2023
  23. 23 It starred in British cinema’s first ‘talkie’, in 1929. NRM blog, 2016
  24. 24 Its trains carried new comforts such as a cinema car, a cocktail bar and a hairdressing salon. NRM blog, 2016
  25. 25 Flying Scotsman is also a passenger service that has run on the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh since 1924. NRM, 100 Voices
  26. 26 Before 1924 that service was known as the Special Scotch Express, which dates back to 1862. NRM, 100 Voices
  27. 27 In May 1968, 40 years after the first non-stop run, it ran non-stop from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh again. NRM
  28. 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. NRM, 100 Voices
  29. 29 In 1934 it was clocked at 100mph on a special test run, officially the first locomotive in the UK to reach that speed. NRM
  30. 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. NRM
  31. 31 Nigel Gresley, driver Bill Sparshatt and fireman R Webster were photographed at King’s Cross after the 100mph run. NRM
  32. 32 Its engine record card includes a note of the 100mph it reached. NRM
  33. 33 The LNER made sure the authenticated 100mph was covered in the national press. NRM blog, 2023
  34. 34 Some claim the locomotive City of Truro was first past 100mph, in 1904, when it apparently reached 102mph running down a slope. BBC, 2016
  35. 35 The National Railway Museum describes it as officially the first steam locomotive to reach 100mph. NRM, 2023
  36. 36 In 1989, in Australia, it set the world record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive: 422 miles. NRM
  37. 37 It was the first steam locomotive to go right round the world, on its voyage to Australia and back. NRM
  38. 38 Back in action in 2016, it took another record: the oldest mainline working locomotive on Britain’s tracks. NRM
  39. 39 The A4 locomotive Mallard set the world speed record for steam, 126mph, on 3 July 1938, and that record still stands. NRM, Mallard
  40. 40 Mallard’s streamlined, wedge-shaped A4 design looked nothing like the A3 class that Flying Scotsman belongs to. NRM, Mallard
  41. 41 Before Mallard, the British steam record was 114mph, held by the LMS. NRM, Mallard
  42. 42 The steam world record before Mallard had been set in Germany in May 1935, at 124.5mph. NRM, Mallard
  43. 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. NRM, Mallard
  44. 44 The National Railway Museum gives its weight as 97 tonnes. NRM
  45. 45 A BBC report from 2016 says it weighs about 96 tonnes. BBC, 2016
  46. 46 It is 70ft long, about 21 metres. BBC, 2016
  47. 47 The BBC gives its top speed as 100mph. BBC, 2016
  48. 48 LNER passenger locomotives had always been painted Apple Green. NRM
  49. 49 In the Second World War it was painted wartime black, like all railway stock. NRM
  50. 50 After the war it was green again and was rebuilt as an A3 Pacific. NRM
  51. 51 The National Railway Museum dates its conversion to the A3 class to 1947. NRM, 2023
  52. 52 British Railways was formed in 1948, and Scotsman, now number 60103, was painted blue for a time, then BR Green. NRM
  53. 53 British Rail retired it in 1963, after 40 years of pulling trains, as steam engines were becoming old-fashioned. NRM
  54. 54 By the time it retired from regular service in 1963 it had covered more than two million miles. BBC, 2023
  55. 55 By 2016, over more than nine decades, it had travelled some 2,500,000 miles. NRM blog, 2016
  56. 56 Over its life it has had a constant turnover of parts, with changes to let it run in the 21st century. NRM blog, 2016
  57. 57 The BR green chosen in 2016 reflects how it looked in the 1950s and early 1960s. BBC, 2016
  58. 58 Repainting it by hand took about 20 litres of undercoat, 30 litres of gloss and around 20 litres of varnish. BBC, 2016
  59. 59 It took 10 days to strip off the black paint and repaint it green. BBC, 2016
  60. 60 Gresley (1876–1941) was the LNER’s Chief Mechanical Engineer, and the A4 locomotive No 4498 was named after him. NRM, Mallard
  61. 61 Gresley was born in Edinburgh. BBC, 2023
  62. 62 In January 1963 Alan Pegler bought Flying Scotsman, with a complete overhaul as part of the deal. NRM
  63. 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. NRM
  64. 64 It ran its last train for British Railways on 14 January 1963. NRM
  65. 65 In 1969 it went to the United States on a tour meant to promote British exports. NRM
  66. 66 The tour broke even in its first year, but lost money in its second. NRM
  67. 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. NRM
  68. 68 It toured the United States and Canada from 1969 until 1973. BBC, 2023
  69. 69 A 1971 colour photograph in the Science Museum Group Collection shows 4472 in the United States. Science Museum Group
  70. 70 In 1973 William McAlpine heard what had happened, paid off the creditors, bought the locomotive and brought it home. NRM
  71. 71 McAlpine had it restored at Derby Works and kept it running for 23 years, overhauling it thoroughly twice. NRM
  72. 72 It toured Australia in 1988 and 1989. BBC, 2023
  73. 73 Back in Britain it ran special trains, including regular runs over the Settle to Carlisle Railway and trips hauling the Orient Express Pullman. NRM
  74. 74 In the early 1990s it was repaired again, and pop impresario Pete Waterman briefly went into partnership with Sir William to run it. NRM
  75. 75 In February 1996 businessman Tony Marchington bought it outright for £1.25 million. NRM
  76. 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. NRM
  77. 77 The National Railway Museum bought it in 2004 for £2.3 million. NRM blog, 2016
  78. 78 The appeal was supported by a £1.8 million grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and by the public. NRM
  79. 79 The BBC reported £415,000 in public donations and a £365,000 gift from Sir Richard Branson. BBC, 2016
  80. 80 Its restoration was helped by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £275,000. NRM
  81. 81 From 2006 it went through a long restoration in the workshop of Riley & Son (E) Ltd. NRM
  82. 82 The work was meant to finish in 2011 but was delayed when cracks were found in the chassis. BBC, 2016
  83. 83 Riley and Sons of Bury, Greater Manchester, were appointed in 2013 to finish the job. BBC, 2016
  84. 84 The project was completed in 2016, with the locomotive in BR Green as 60103, at a cost given as £4.2m. NRM
  85. 85 In September 2016 the National Railway Museum put the full and final cost of the restoration at £4,537,892. NRM, 2016
  86. 86 More work than expected was needed on some parts, and a tight deadline to meet the first run, which pushed the cost up. NRM, 2016
  87. 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. NRM blog, 2016
  88. 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, 2016
  89. 89 Still in black paint, it made test runs in Lancashire and Cumbria in January and February 2016. BBC, 2016
  90. 90 Tens of thousands of people lined platforms and bridges to watch. NRM blog, 2016
  91. 91 It arrived at Platform 9 in York at around 12.30pm. NRM blog, 2016
  92. 92 It came top of a YouGov poll of the world’s most famous locomotive, ahead of Stephenson’s Rocket. NRM blog, 2016
  93. 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. NRM, 2023
  94. 94 In 2023 the museum’s director called it the oldest steam locomotive on the main line. NRM, 2023
  95. 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. NRM, 2023
  96. 96 For the Royal Train its roof was painted white and new lamps were fitted to the cab. NRM, 2023
  97. 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. NRM, 2023
  98. 98 Told when Scotsman was built, the Queen Mother replied that it was the year she was married. NRM, 2023
  99. 99 For the centenary the Royal Mint made a £2 coin showing Flying Scotsman in colour. NRM, 2023
  100. 100 Michael Morpurgo wrote a children’s book for the centenary: Flying Scotsman and the Best Birthday Ever. NRM, 2023
  101. 101 Poet laureate Simon Armitage read a new poem, The Making Of The Flying Scotsman, at Edinburgh Waverley for its 100th anniversary. BBC, 2023
  102. 102 A National Railway Museum curator calls it a ‘memory machine’. NRM blog, 2023
  103. 103 The National Railway Museum in York has the largest collection of railway objects in the world, with over 260 locomotives and rolling stock. NRM, 2023
  104. 104 Entry to the National Railway Museum is free. NRM
  105. 105 Like all working steam locomotives, it has winter maintenance every year. NRM, 2016
  106. 106 Over 200,000 people saw it in 2016 at York, Shildon and heritage railway events after its return. NRM, 2016