LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotive built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line by LNER and its successors, British Railways' Eastern and North Eastern Regions, notably on The Flying Scotsman service between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley after which it was named.
4472 became a flagship locomotive for the LNER, representing the company twice at the British Empire Exhibition and in 1928, hauled the inaugural non-stop Flying Scotsman service. It set two world records for steam traction, becoming the first locomotive to reach the officially authenticated speed of on 30 November 1934, and setting the longest non-stop run of on 8 August 1989 while in Australia.
Retired from British Railways in 1963 after covering 2.08 million miles, Flying Scotsman earned considerable fame in preservation under the ownership of, successively, Alan Pegler, William McAlpine, Tony Marchington, and, since 2004, the National Railway Museum. As well as hauling enthusiast specials in the United Kingdom, the locomotive toured extensively in the United States and Canada from 1969 until 1972, and Australia in 1988 and 1989. Flying Scotsman has been described as the world's most famous steam locomotive.
History
LNER
In July 1922, the Great Northern Railway (GNR) filed Engine Order No. 297 which gave the green-light for ten Class A1 4-6-2 "Pacific" locomotives to be built at Doncaster Works. Designed by Nigel Gresley, the A1s were built to haul mainline and later express passenger trains and following the GNR's absorption into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) after the amalgamation of 1923, became a standard design. Flying Scotsman cost £7,944 to build, and was the first engine delivered to the newly-formed LNER. It entered service on 24 February 1923, carrying the GNR number of 1472 as the LNER had not yet decided on a system-wide numbering scheme. In February 1924 the locomotive acquired its name after the LNER's Flying Scotsman express service between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, and was assigned a new number, 4472.
Flying Scotsman became a flagship locomotive for the LNER, representing the company at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park in 1924 and 1925, and was frequently used in promotional materials. In 1928, the LNER decided to make The Flying Scotsman a non-stop service for the first time and 4472 was one of five A1s selected for the service. It hauled the inaugural train on 1 May, completing the journey of in 8 hours and 3 minutes. The non-stop runs were achieved with an upgraded tender which held an extra long ton of coal and fitted with a corridor connection, so a change of driver and fireman could take place while the train was moving. Water was replenished from the water trough system several times en route. Flying Scotsman ran with its corridor tender until October 1936, after which it reverted to the original type. From 1938 until its withdrawal in 1963, it was paired with a streamlined non-corridor tender.
On 30 November 1934, Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to reach the officially authenticated speed of , while hauling a light test train between Leeds and London, and the publicity-conscious LNER made much of the fact. Although the Great Western Railway's 3440 City of Truro was reported to have reached the same speed in 1904, the record was unreliable.
Following the success of Gresley's streamlined Class A4s introduced in 1935, Flying Scotsman was relegated to lesser duties but still worked on the main line and hauling passenger services. In 1943, as with all railway stock during World War II, the locomotive was painted black. In 1946, it was renumbered twice by Gresley's successor Edward Thompson, who devised a comprehensive renumbering scheme for the LNER. 4472 was initially assigned number 502, but an amendment to the system several months later led to its renumbering of 103.
In 1928, Gresley began to modify the A1s into an improved version, the Class A3, on a gradual basis. In 1945, the remaining unmodified A1s, which included Flying Scotsman, were reclassified as A10. 103 emerged as an A3 on 4 January 1947 with its original Apple Green livery. Its old 180 psi boiler was replaced with a 225 psi version with the long "banjo" dome of the type it carries today, and it was fitted with more efficient valves and cylinders.