Chasing Steam2017-03-08by Peter
TALES FROM CHASING STEAM - The Flying Scotsman 1963
FLYING SCOTSMANCaptured on camera, a Brownie 127, are three photographs of Flying Scotsman at Birmingham (Snow Hill) on 20th April 1963 portraying the locomotive soon after arrival being admired by a small section of the vast audience, a close-up of the cab and tender and a close-up of the driving wheels and nameplate. Can anyone identify the member of the footplate crew leaning out of the cab of 4472? Photographs by Peter Hands
FLYING SCOTSMANCaptured on camera, a Brownie 127, are three photographs of Flying Scotsman at Birmingham (Snow Hill) on 20th April 1963 portraying the locomotive soon after arrival being admired by a small section of the vast audience, a close-up of the cab and tender and a close-up of the driving wheels and nameplate. Can anyone identify the member of the footplate crew leaning out of the cab of 4472? Photograph by Peter Hands
FLYING SCOTSMANCaptured on camera, a Brownie 127, are three photographs of Flying Scotsman at Birmingham (Snow Hill) on 20th April 1963 portraying the locomotive soon after arrival being admired by a small section of the vast audience, a close-up of the cab and tender and a close-up of the driving wheels and nameplate. Can anyone identify the member of the footplate crew leaning out of the cab of 4472? Photograph by Peter Hands
FLYING SCOTSMAN IS VERY MUCH IN THE NEWS IN 2016 FOLLOWING ITS RECENT OVERHAUL AFTER TEN YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS – LET’S TAKE A LARGE STEP BACK IN TIME TO FIFTY-THREE YEARS AGO
Saturday 20th April 1963 was wet and miserable but hordes of West Midlands steam enthusiasts braved the adverse conditions to grasp the rare opportunity of seeing the world famous Flying Scotsman in the unfamiliar surroundings of Birmingham (Snow Hill), former Great Western territory, on its first public outing in private ownership with a down charter train from Paddington, reporting number X28.
No. 60103 was withdrawn from 34A Kings Cross by British Railways on 15th January 1963, a depot it had served from continuously since 7th April 1957, after hauling the 1.15pm Kings Cross to Leeds express. Following condemnation Flying Scotsman was acquired privately by Mr. Alan Pegler and the locomotive was beautifully restored to LNER condition (including apple green livery) by the craftsmen at Doncaster Works. Gone was the double chimney and German-style smoke deflectors, legacies of its latter days under British Railways ownership, with 60103 being replaced by the iconic 4472.
In my spotting days I found Flying Scotsman rather elusive. Despite visits to Edinburgh (Waverley), Kings Cross MPD and York I only saw her once in B.R. service. She was beneath a hoist in the repair shop at 34E New England on 8th October 1961.