#The National Railway Museum

[weirdowithaquill]

Flying Scotsman in 2004 - A Comedy of Errors and Owners:

Ok - so this is something I've been sitting on for a while now, but I feel like with 'The World Famous Engine' now being uploaded to Ao3, now is the right time to cover this rather insane topic. See, we all know the story of Flying Scotsman and the NRM: the NRM bought the engine for the nation, and then sent it into the Works for 1 years' worth of work in 2006... One year of work that ended up spiralling into ten years and £4.2 million.

But behind that story is a rather more shocking story, and one that really needs more recognition to help people understand just how absolutely shockingly Flying Scotsman had been treated before that overhaul.

Sir William McAlpine:

Our story most likely begins under Alan Peglar, but I have a rather sneaking suspicion it actually gets interesting under McAlpine. Sir William McAlpine bought 4472 Flying Scotsman in 1972 to save the engine after Alan Peglar went bankrupt in San Francisco, leaving the engine on a US Military Base.

He brought Scotsman and had the engine restored at Derby Works in England, and then successfully owned and ran the engine for another 23 years, making him the longest-lasting and most successful of all Scotsman's owners.

Pretty good achievement!

But, during this era, Flying Scotsman visited Australia, broke the record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive, pulled the Royal Train, ran on a multitude of heritage railways and mainline excursions, got an overhaul three times - including one at Barrow-in-Furness (story idea, anyone?). This is not where the worst of the issues arose from, but it does give you a good idea of the kind of work this engine was being tasked with.

And then in 1995, it was involved in an accident at Llangollen Railway. When put back into steam, smoke emerged from a crack separating the boiler and the front cab. It was deemed a total failure and immediately withdrawn from service immediately - and that's what did McAlpine in. He sold the engine off to cover some debts, and Tony Marchington

What do I think went wrong here? I have a feeling that Scotsman was run pretty haggard in Australia (which, fair - it's not always a very nice country to machines) and when refitted to his BR livery, several... shortcuts were made to get the engine back in service. All the same, this isn't where the trouble came from.

Tony Marchington:

And here's where things went south. Fast. Flying Scotsman was bought, went through a three-year long overhaul worth £1 million and then was set to work. Thing is, that overhaul had a number of red flags surrounding it - perhaps most notable being the fitting of an A4 boiler working at 250psi. Now, for those unaware - the original A1 class ran at 180psi, and the upgraded A3 class ran at 225psi. The engine was being run at a pressure it was extremely unfit to operate with.

It would be a bit like fitting a massive V12 motor to a Honda Accord. Yes, the car will move extremely fast and look impressive and move for a while, but every other piece of that car will deteriorate rapidly due to the pressure it's all under. Now transfer that to a steam locomotive - one where to reach that pressure, the firebox is under a lot of strain.

Flying Scotsman failed a lot during the Marchington era, and it's not surprising why. The poor engine was literally falling to pieces - as one NRM staffmember noted: "On our first inspection, the rear drivers had been removed to deal with bearing problems. The visiting NRM team was most unimpressed with the quality of work being done on the bearings. Other examples of poor workmanship (of which I cannot remember the detail) were evident on inspection.”

Please note, the bearings and valves had all recently been replaced.

Also note, Tony Marchington was under pressure from the shareholders of Flying Scotsman PLC - a company he set up - to make money, and so many of the fitters working on the engine may have been given far, far too many constraints in time and budget to properly overhaul the engine, in essence needing to just 'do the bare minimum to get it back in service'...

And this is the condition the NRM bought 4472 Flying Scotsman in.

The National Railway Museum:

All of the above is an indication of the condition that Flying Scotsman was in when bought in 2004 - but that only tells about half of the story. The other half is a bunch of issues surrounding the purchase, certification and understanding of just how bad things were. And make no mistake, the NRM is not blameless in this circus - it just managed to inherit a bad situation and then fumble with it until they sat down and figured out what had happened.

Let's take a moment to look at the AEAT report that the NRM got, then compare it to reality:

The AEAT report stated that:

"Whilst it was not possible to complete a thorough examination of the locomotive, or to witness it in steam, the condition of the locomotive has been monitored regularly as part of the VAB audit process. Taking this into consideration, it is considered that the general mechanical condition is satisfactory for continued operation, subject to effective maintenance, until the next General Overhaul in 2006. The scope of mechanical overhaul is not anticipated to be extensive but will involve strip down of the motion and axleboxes to gauge wear and remedial action. The cylinders all require re-lining and boring to nominal diameter."

The reality of the condition of the engine was far from this rather rosy portrayal given by AEAT. For starters, the engine was not properly examined, and several areas of testing were 'not possibly to be checked adequately' for a variety of reasons, including:

the locomotive was being prepared for a test run

equipment failure

4472 Flying Scotsman not being in steam

Anyone notice something off? Why exactly can the company not see how the engine is when in steam if the engine is being prepared for a test run?

Furthermore, AEAT had been the VAB (Vehicle Acceptance Body) for Flying Scotsman for 14 years by this point and finding a huge number of faults at this point very much would have raised questions about their work. More probably, the company had grown accustomed to the engine working, and simply assumed everything was satisfactory unless demonstratable to the contrary. Like the NRM admitted:

"[T]he previous owner’s VAB may not have been the best choice of inspector."

Thing is, AEAT included pictures in their report, but most of these were of the air brake compressor, locomotive air brake, tender air brake cylinders, TPWS antenna selection switch and the TPWS antenna mounting arrangements, which while critical to obtaining permission to operate on Network Rail, don't say much about the actual condition of the engine. And the photos that were of the actual mechanical parts of the engine were... telling.

The Stay Nuts in the firebox are rusting, melting and missing. And that wasn't the only major issue with the engine - several of which were extremely dangerous:

the Robinson superheater header doors had been seal welded;

other inspection doors had also been seal welded;

Repairs to defective studs on the superheater header were needed;

the smokebox door locking mechanism was broken;

the firebox stays needed caulking;

the boiler mountings and pipework in the cab was considered dangerous;

the air brake reservoirs were overdue re-certification;

two tender springs needed replacing;

Re-metalling one crosshead was needed, which resulted in having to remove the bogie, and led to the discovery that the piston rods were incorrectly fitted to the crossheads and required extensive repairs in order to make them fit properly;

Removal of the 'belly' access door in the bottom of the boiler barrel in order to remove a build-up of some 6 inches of sludge;

one of the tender wheel tyres was flat;

the air pump needed repairs;

the vital axlebox oil pads which were long overdue for replacement;

the tender handbrake just didn't work and needed repairs;

121 boiler tubes needed replacement (2004);

the boiler itself needed replacement (2006);

Foundation ring heavily corroded and cracked;

a large number of latent fractures throughout the whole of the locomotive's frame assembly;

the valves and bearings were faulty or broken;

there was a serious crack in the right-hand cylinder;

the entire firebox itself was in desperate need of replacement;

the boiler washout plugs had been fitted with domestic gas plugs;

the wheels are all in need of re-turning;

the frame hornblocks are all cracked;

one of the driving wheels was bent;

the frame stretchers were all cracked and beyond repair;

The centre-cylinder motion bracket also had cracks;

The frames were wrongly aligned;

And the frame's horn ties were scrap, and needed to be remade.

That is thirty separate issues that the NRM discovered between 2004 and 2012 restoring the Flying Scotsman. The Flying Scotsman needed such a complete overhaul to be restored that some people argued that it would cheaper to just build an entirely new engine.

A completely new version of this engine:

And remember, AEAT certified this engine to run on the mainline. The Flying Scotsman had turned into a literal moving death trap under its various owners, and I am not surprised it cost the NRM £4.2 million to rebuild Flying Scotsman.

In summary, 4472 Flying Scotsman was about as sick as an engine could get when it arrived at the NRM. The amount of work required to fix the poor engine was extensive - and some may argue unjustified. Personally, I disagree. Yes, Flying Scotsman cost a ridiculous amount of money to save and rebuild - but this is not an engine who would ever accept living on a plinth in a museum. This is an engine with a fascinating history filled with trials, tribulations and triumphs; and in my opinion the Flying Scotsman's place is on the mainline. Will there be a day when the old engine has to be withdrawn and placed in the NRM? Probably - it's the oldest mainline certified engine in the UK already, and it's not getting any younger. But by that same token, Flying Scotsman went through a massive, extensive overhaul to ensure that generations to come could see the majestic A3 doing what it always did best, and there's something truly inspiring about that.

A big thank you to the NRM for saving Flying Scotsman, and an even bigger 'what the hell?' to the people who almost destroyed it by being careless.

The pictures used in this post do not belong to me. All pictures belong to their owners. If you wish to read the NRM Flying Scotsman report yourself, this is the URL, and a hyperlink to its archived form on the Wayback Machine:

[this-wandering-mind]

15. 3. 24

National railway museum, York

[i-have-funny-hat]

And the one I’m sure you’ve been waiting patiently for, Flying Scotsman (ft tiny Scot)

[carbone14]

Locomotive LMS Princess de la classe Coronation ‘Duchess of Hamilton’ - National Railway Museum - York - Angleterre - 1er juin 2009

Photo de David Ingham

[fabien-euskadi]

Seven leftovers from the National Railway of Portugal, in Entroncamento.

[nightbringer24]

York National Railway Museum.

Part 7

[guerrerense]

NRM Deltic por Nigel Por Flickr: 10th August 2023 and a rare appearance on the turntable for Deltic class D9002 Kings own Yorkshire light Infantry, or KOYLI as its known for short. There was a need for a short re shuffle in the museum which resulted in the Deltic being shown on the turntable

[edwardthomasnw]

Brother convinced me into a birthday trip

Saw this Big Ugly Lug (affectionate) and spent like three quarters of the time explaining stuff to him (at his request!)

Was actually really nice

[feigeroman]

My NRM Visit

The other day, me and my mum embarked on a grand adventure to the National Railway Museum. Having previously tried and failed to visit on two previous occasions, we naturally made the most of our day there. I in particular took many, many photos, and there now follows but a small sample of these:

It wouldn’t be a Tumblr post without a crab, and so we start with an LMS Crab 2-6-0 - this is in fact the first of the class, LMS #13000 (later #2700).

LMS Royal Saloon #799. Originally built in 1941 as an armoured saloon for the Queen Mother, who used it to travel around the country to boost morale during the War. This saloon was used by the Royal Family right up until 1977, when the present royal train came into service.

GNR J13 0-6-0ST #1247. This was the first steam engine ever to be privately purchased direct from British Railways, in 1959. Mum for scale.

Waterloo Station 1967 by Terence Cuneo. Exactly what it says on the tin. As with all of Cuneo’s paintings, this one is crammed with all sorts of little details and cameos (including his trademark mouse, who is sitting on top of the Johnnie Walker advert to the right).

SECR D Class 4-4-0, #737. Not a whole lot to say about this one that hasn’t been said already. I just included it here to provide context for the next photo. Speaking of which:

Pullman coach Topaz, with whom #737 currently shares exhibition space. Rather than the traditional chocolate-and-cream, this Pullman carries its original crimson livery, which seems to have been the inspiration for that worn by the Pullmans seen in Thomas.

BR (SR) Merchant Navy 4-6-2 #35029, Ellerman Lines. As you can see, she’s been cut in half to more easily demonstrate how a steam locomotive works. Which is pretty neat, even if it does make for a rather grisly spectacle.

Furness #3 0-4-0, Coppernob. Also known as that engine who used to be on display in Barrow-In-Furness, and still carries literal battle scars from a 1941 air raid on that town. Also also known as Nobby, if you’re @mean-scarlet-deceiver​ or any of their followers.

LNER A4 4-6-2 #4468, Mallard. I couldn’t not take a photo of the world’s fastest steam engine (whose 126mph record was quantified by the dynamometer car just visible in the background).

And finally, the little blue bugger himself - specifically an RG Mitchells kiddie ride from about 1994.

[joezworld]

Okay, I know the engines aren’t too versed in popular culture and probably wouldn’t care, but I realized this and think it could be fun.

In Harry Potter, the Hogwarts Express leaves from King’s Cross, the London LNER station.

For the films, they picked a GWR engine to portray the Hogwarts Express engine, which leaves from aforementioned LNER station.

I’m not sure what Gordon would think, but some part of me thinks he’d be horribly offended (and not quiet) at the fact that they chose a GWR engine to SULLEN the GRAND rails of King’s Cross.

Gordon is... more mature than that, at least now.

("No he isn't!" Chorused every engine within earshot.)

All right, he's at least more understanding than he was before.

That being said, the relationship some of the engines have with the Harry Potter franchise is... strained.

----

2003

"That is it!" James bellowed angrily as he steamed back into the shed one afternoon. "I am no longer doing anything for the television unless someone tells me what I'm supposed to be doing first!"

Disbelieving noises filled the shed, which just made James angrier.

"Come now, James," Duck said, trying to be mature. "It surely wasn't that bad - they shut down a whole platform for it!"

"A bunch of nonsense," Gordon grumbled quietly. "The express had to leave from the goods platforms."

"Oh it was nonsense!" James wheeshed, still irate. "I looked a fool out there, and now there's photographic evidence! I shan't do that again!"

"Och," Scoffed Douglas. "Like ye need any moar help to be a yon fool in public! What even was it this time?"

"It's those children's books, Hairy Pots or whatever it's called." The red engine seethed. "They have a magical engine in it, and just because he's red, they think that I could be a "stand-in" for him!"

The other engines looked at each other. They suddenly had an inkling of why James was so upset.

"Well," Said Duck cheekily. "It is a shame that you cannot rely on your star-power anymore."

"Poor thing," Gordon chimed in. "Being reduced to a stand-in."

"What's this?" Henry steamed in from the station. "Are we replacing James now?"

James looked like he was about to burst a tube, and the other engines laughed as his face turned purple. "It's not that, you laughing hyenas!" He howled. "The dratted engine doesn't even look anything like me! He's a darker shade of red and everyone should know it, but nooooo, they're going to say to my face that "you look enough like him!", and just keep going like that's an acceptable thing to say to me!"

At this point he was going about as red as his paint. "No more! not again! I'm a very special engine with very unique paint, and I will not be told that I look like someone else! I'm not doing more of that ever again!"

In James' mind, this was probably a very cathartic and righteous stating of his grievances; it would soon be followed by the concern and sympathy of his friends, many of whom he'd known for almost a century.

But outside of James' mind, in reality, this was the funniest thing that anyone had heard in weeks, and the other engines laughed until their faces hurt.

James still doesn't like the Harry Potter series to this day.

-------

2009

"You know," Olton Hall said to Gordon. "I am very surprised that you've taken the movies so well."

Gordon's brows furrowed. "Whatever do you mean?"

Olton's eyes rolled. "Oh, that I'm Great Western, but I went to Kings Cross to film the movies. Some LNER engines haven't taken that well."

"Let me guess, Mallard?"

"You know him well."

"Unfortunately." Gordon rolled his eyes, but kept his voice low. The two engines had been parked out in front of the National Railway Museum, but with the doors to the Great Hall flung open, sounds could travel. "But to your point, it really doesn't offend me. I've been NWR longer than I was LNER, and - no offense intended - but the Great Western doesn't exist anymore. Saying that a "GWR interloper" was in "my station" doesn't particularly apply anymore."

"That's... astonishingly reasonable." Olton sounded like he'd been expecting an argument, and Gordon made a mental note to castigate the likely suspects, for what little good that might do. "I hadn't thought of it that way, really."

"Yes well, sometimes we miss the obvious in favor of petty squabbles."

"Too right."

"Besides, in the movie you are... forgive me if I don't have it entirely correct, a magic locomotive hidden from the world by fairies? I don't think that your magical platform being at King's Cross is going to be the most ridiculous part of that film!"

"No, it's not, by a long shot!" Olton laughed. "Although I'm hidden from the world by wizards, not fairies." He paused for a minute. "Have you seen the films?"

"Unfortunately no," Gordon admitted. "I'm much too busy working, and when the drivers insist on having a "movie night", the films are to their taste, not ours."

The drivers took an almost perverse pleasure in watching some of the worst train-oriented movies anyone had ever seen. Gordon wasn't sure what had happened to the tape for The Cassandra Crossing, but he was almost certain that it had ended up in someone's firebox.

Olton was shocked. "Well! We need to fix that!"

Gordon didn't like the look in the younger engine's eyes...

-

Later

The museum staff set up a giant screen and a projector, and many of the engines were wheeled out to see the film. Olton was learning, much to his dismay, that very few engines had seen the film, and was most insistent that everyone get a chance to watch.

Naturally, Gordon ended up with Mallard on one side, Olton on the other, and King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry on a diverging track between him and Mallard. Nobody was particularly happy with this arrangement, but years of ingrained Express Passenger Etiquette meant that none of the east coast locomotives were willing to talk during a film, even one as ridiculous as this one.

"oh, this next bit is where I come in!" Olton (And Evening Star, on the other side of him) had been built in the west country, and therefore had no manners were not only willing to talk during a film, but were also totally immune to the trio of death stares they were getting from the easterners.

The scene momentarily changed to show the outside of King's Cross station, and immediately problems began to occur.

"That is not King's Cross!" Mallard hissed unconsciously.

A stifled laugh from an engine in the back was followed up by a muffled "Isn' tha' St. Pancras?", to which 'Yorkshire' growled dangerously.

Then the young ragamuffin that this film was ostensibly about was handed a ticket... for platform nine and three quarters.

"There is no such thing!" Mallard and Yorkshire snapped as one, in tune with the boy on the screen. Judging from the giggles and growls from the other engines, most of the other LNER engines and rolling stock had said the same.

"It's a magical platform!" Gordon sniffed. "Don't get too- what?!"

The scene had changed once again, and the young boy was pushing his cart down the platform between tracks nine and ten, except...

"There is not a platform there!" Mallard bellowed, propriety forgotten.

"What is that?" Yorkshire squinted angrily at the screen. "Is that... is that platform five?! Olton! Is this movie so daft that they expect us to believe that nine and three quarters comes between four and five?!"

"Oh it's better than that!" Called a voice from the back that was either Scotsman or Green Arrow. "Look, they renumbered the platforms!"

The signs were indeed changed on the platforms, and a new round of aggrieved mumbling started.

"It's just a movie!" Olton retorted, suddenly regretting his decisions. "The author forgot what the station layout was!"

That was the wrong thing to say. "SHE FORGOT?!" A dozen engines shouted, including Gordon.

Olton looked like he wanted to melt into the rails, and for a moment Gordon felt sympathetic, until the young boy stopped to ask for directions from a member of station staff. In the background of this scene was a coach from whatever franchise operator had run the ECML at the time - GNER, maybe - and it featured in small but clearly visible letters "Route of The Flying Scotsman."

"Oh joy," Mallard called. "Look at what we've been reduced to! A forgotten station layout, wrong platforms, and a slogan on a coach!"

The other engines were of a similar mind, and even Gordon was finding himself in agreement, to the point where he completely ignored why the small hairy child was running headlong into a brick wall, until...

"Oh no..." Olton said in a small voice.

The child ran through the wall into the magical platform. The camera stayed on him for a moment, before swinging around to reveal a striking and powerful image of...

...a GWR Hall class locomotive sitting inside of King's Cross station.

The NRM erupted into shouting.

---

Many months later

"So Gordon," Henry asked one day. "You never did say how that railtour to York went. Did anything interesting occur?"

"I discovered that I do not like the Harry Potter movies." Gordon said, after a long and poignant silence.

[keeezzum]

[stories-of-the-nrm]

My Deviant Art

To get an idea of what I write, my Flying Scotsman series can be found here:

Tagging @mean-scarlet-deceiver, @tornadoyoungiron, @klein-sodor-bahn and @weirdowithaquill.

I hope there's still an active fandom here.

[i-have-funny-hat]

Went to the NRM to see Flying Scotsman today!

I’ll be posting things separately so here’s the station photos!

There’ll be:

Station

Museum steam

Museum diesel/electric

Scotsman

[aryburn-trains]

Monticello Railway Museum's passenger train crawls past the Top Flight Grain Elevator while climbing to the NS connection for use on the NS Decatur Christmas Train. Monticello, IL December 02, 2012

[fabien-euskadi]

Six more photos from the National Railway Museum of Portugal, in the city of Entroncamento.

The last one is a UTE 2057, at, for many who lived in the Greater Lisbon, it may bring a bit of nostalgia - personally, for a few seconds, it made me feel a small kid again. These silver machines were originally built in 1956 and remained in service until 2000.

[nightbringer24]

York National Railway Museum.

Part 3