Flying Scotsman

WMASS · **Joined:** Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:47 pm **Posts:** 27

For many of us here in the states some major milestones have been reached on the restoration of the famed Flying Scotsman.

Just within the last three days, the driving wheels have been refurbished and placed back on the engine.

Today she was trucked on a lowboy truck from the National Railway Museum in York to the East Lacashire Railway to be reunited with her boiler. A return to steam is slowly approaching.

derail · **Joined:** Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:45 pm **Posts:** 142

I seem to recall a boiler swap taking place at one time, but I don't recall what boiler was the original boiler since I am not thoroughly familiar with British steam.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:07 pm

From the "Save Our Scotsman" website at http://www.flyingscotsman.org.uk/sos/restoration.aspx :

Quote:

Early on, it was realised that the A4 boiler carried by Scotsman since the 1970s needed a great deal of repair work. The engine had a spare A3 boiler (originally from 60041 sister locomotive Salmon Trout) which it had used before this time. It was decided that this spare boiler, which was the correct type for Scotsman, would be repaired and used, and the A4 boiler was sold [ca. 2009, to Jeremy Hosking, owner of A4 60019 Bittern].

The A3 boiler went for repair at Ian Riley and Son’s workshop in Bury, Lancashire, where a complete rebuild began. The boiler would be given a new firebox with a copper inner skin, and the rivets would be replaced. The steam tubes of course would also be replaced.

WMASS · **Joined:** Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:47 pm **Posts:** 27

That boiler in the quote above is supposed to be test fitted by the end of this week. Ian's shop is located at the East Lancashire Railway(ELR)

Ian runs 2 black 5 locomotive during the UK Excursion season in various locations around the UK.

Finally, ELR is the base location for the famous 71000 "Duke of Gloucester". Scotsman shall be in good company during her stay.

Neil D · **Posted:** Wed May 25, 2011 8:07 pm

A couple of updates,.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjDoz-xz ... ture=feedu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjlFavhy ... ure=relmfu

I missed this....

http://www.youtube.com/user/NatRailwayM ... 8hIUZ2osJo

Neil.

daylight4449 · **Posted:** Thu May 26, 2011 7:13 am

Has she been put in the wartime black yet? She's debuting in two days at york.

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Thu May 26, 2011 10:30 am

From what I understand, this is the first time the Scotsman has been in wartime black since preservation. Of course, the preliminary artwork shows the double stack, which indicates she'll be running in the inauthentic combination of LNER livery, double stack and smoke deflectors after her running in phase is complete and she reverts to apple green.

NRM made some curious choices when it came to the Scotsman. It's the only locomotive in their collection that they have indicated they will keep on the mainline. They've also decided to run her as LNER 4472 with the double chimney and deflectors. The other curious pronouncement they made is that they would not be refitting vacuum brakes to enable her to run on many preserved lines, which have vacum braked stock. Also, they inititally stated that they would not truck her to lines that are not connected with the national rail network. I don't know if either of these policy statements have been reversed.

The Scotsman was rebuilt as an A3 after World War II (1946 or 1947), which means with the banjo dome, she can't really appear as LNER 4472, as she had been renumbered twice during the war, finally to 103 just before nationalization. As a result of all of this, it is always interesting to see how she is painted and presented to the public. To my knowledge, other than the few years she ran in the late 1980s as BR 60103 with the double chimeny, she's never run in preservation in a fully authentic livery.

Still, it's nice to see her out and about.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Thu May 26, 2011 10:45 am

The fact remains that 4472 has spent more time as a preserved "celebrity" locomotive than it did in commercial revenue service for GNR/LNER/BR, and that most of that time has been under the custodianship of private owners. One would need a VERY long spreadsheet to track the bewildering number of changes to her appearance over that time. Just as a start, Alan Pegler changed the background of the nameplates from black to red--just because he liked it better that way. There was a spell when the cabside had a coat of arms and the "4472" was relegated to the second tender. The North American headlight/bell/whistle. Second tender in BR blue/cream. The Australian plaque.......

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

Kind of like a movie star whos appearance keeps changing...

Fat Elvis or Thin Elvis, which one do you remember?

Meanwhile, for the general public, the only "Flying Scotsman" they recall is the preserved one, historical inaccuracies and all. So you're almost preserving the preserved engine.

I recall a similiar situation at the Strasburg when I was a kid. The most popular car in the train was the Hello Dolly coach. Never mind that it wasn't historically accurate, we'd all seen it in the movie and it was cool!

car57 · **Posted:** Thu May 26, 2011 2:58 pm

Lets all just be really glad and proud to have her still, she is beautiful and world famous and we love her.

Mike Pannell
Cheyenne WY

Neil D · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2011 9:06 am

The first pictures from the NRM of Scotsman in wartime black will be posted here at 8pm British Summer Time, link here:-

http://www.nrm.org.uk/planavisit/events ... nunveiling

Neil.

Scott · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2011 1:17 pm

Fascinating to view the videos and see the crews working on the locomotive. Most appear to be in their 20's and 30's - look especially at the group photos.

Contrast that with this side of the pond where most are 60 plus. Most are grumpy and cranky and won't let a "newcomer" do anything but pick up trash in the shop or maybe run the needle scaler for the first few years.

We've got to do a better job over here or we will be done sooner that we hope to be.

BDrotarIII · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2011 2:12 pm

http://www.nrm.org.uk/planavisit/events ... nunveiling
They are unveiling it tonight at 3:00 EST.

car57 · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2011 3:56 pm

The UK has some amazing youth groups involved in preservation, who have their own counsels and webpages and magazines, many railways allow the young people to staff the railway and run it for certain days, its a wonderful way of teaching them all manner of skills and giving them responsibilities. Thats the key, it does happen here ive seen it, but not enough.

Mike Pannell
Car 57 Cheyenne

Neil D · **Posted:** Fri May 27, 2011 6:59 pm

A short clip from the BBC today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-yo ... e-13573408

Neil.