British Railways Poster celebrating the centenary of the Flying Scotsman. The locomotives shown are a GNR Stirling Single and a Class 55 'Deltic'.

The Flying Scotsman is a passenger train which has run between London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland since 1862. It is currently operated by GNER. Image File history File links Fs_cent. ... Image File history File links Fs_cent. ... British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company, founded by the London & York Railway Act of 1846. ... Patrick Stirling (29 June 1820 - 11 November 1895) was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway His father Robert Stirling was also an engineer. ... Preserved No 1 The Great Northern Railway (GNR) G class Stirling Single is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. ... British Rail assigned Class 55 to the twenty-two English Electric Type 5 express diesel locomotives built in 1961/2 and used for high-speed service on Britains East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh. ... The following is a list of named passenger trains and some summary information about them. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked... Edinburgh (pronounced ), Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic, is the second-largest city in Scotland and its capital city. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... GNER White Rose train at Kings Cross railway station Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) is a British train operating company (TOC) owned by Sea Containers Ltd. ...

History

The East Coast Main Line over which the Flying Scotsman runs was built in the 19th century by many small railway companies, but mergers and acquisitions led to only three companies controlling the route; the North British Railway, the North Eastern Railway and the Great Northern Railway. In 1860 the three companies established the East Coast Joint Stock for through services using common vehicles, and it is from this agreement that the Flying Scotsman came about. The East Coast Main Line viaduct at Durham. ... The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping in 1923. ... The North Eastern Railway (NER), unlike many other of the pre-Grouping companies, had a relatively compact territory, having the district it covered to itself. ... The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company, founded by the London & York Railway Act of 1846. ...

East Coast Joint Stock

The first Special Scotch Express ran in 1862, with simultaneous 10am departures from the GNR's King's Cross Station in London and North British's Waverley Station in Edinburgh. The original journey took 10½ hours, including a half-hour stop at York for lunch; however, increasing competition and improvements in railway technology saw this time reduced to 8½ hours by the time of the Race to the North in 1888. This article is about the London railway station. ... Waverley Station, from the Scott Monument. ... York is a city in northern England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ... The Race to the North is the name given to two summers in the late 19th century when British passenger trains belonging to different companies would literally race each other from London to Scotland. ...

From 1900, the train was dramatically modernised, introducing such features as corridors between carriages, heating, and dining cars. As passengers could now lunch on the train, the York stop was reduced to 15 minutes, but the overall journey time remained 8½ hours.

London and North Eastern Railway

In 1923, the railways of Britain were 'grouped' into the so-called 'Big Four'. Consequently, all three members of the East Coast Joint Stock became part of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway. The Railways Act of 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the countrys one hundred and twenty railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to... LNER timetable for Autumn 1926 detailing the resumption of services after the General Strike. ...

It was the London and North Eastern which, in 1924, officially renamed the Special Scotch Express as the Flying Scotsman, a name under which it had been unofficially known since the 1870s. To further publicise the train, a newly built Gresley A1 Class locomotive was named after the train, and put on display at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. The same locomotive was later used to haul the train and, in 1928, ran the 392 miles between Edinburgh and London without stopping, a record at the time. The Flying Scotsman would remain a non-stop service right through past nationalisation (with the exeption of WW2) untill about the mid 1950's where the deltic deisels took over. Sir Nigel Gresley Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (19 June 1876 – 5 April 1941) was one of Britains most famous Steam locomotive engineers who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). ... // HISTORY The LNER Class A1/A3 Pacific Steam Locomotive was a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement steam locomotive class, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley wo later built the A4 pacifics and operated by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). ... 4472 Flying Scotsman in 2003. ... The British Empire Exhibition was held at Wembley, London in 1924. ...

As Gresley's locomotive designs developed, the Flying Scotsman got faster and the journey time decreased. By 1938, it was down to 7 hours and 20 minutes. The LNER also improved catering and other on-board services.

British Railways

In the late 1950s British Railways were unfortunately committed to dieselisation, and began devising a replacement for the Gresley Pacifics on the East Coast Main Line. The result was the Class 55 'Deltic', and the Deltic-hauled Flying Scotsman became a centrepiece of British Railways advertising, as it had been for the LNER. Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... British Rail assigned Class 55 to the twenty-two English Electric Type 5 express diesel locomotives built in 1961/2 and used for high-speed service on Britains East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh. ...

Great North Eastern Railway

The Flying Scotsman name is still used today by the current East Coast Main Line operator, Great North Eastern Railway, which subtitles itself The Route of the Flying Scotsman. The northbound service departs from King's Cross at the traditional time of 10am, while the southbound service leaves Waverley at 10.53, having originated in Glasgow at 10. Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) is a British train operating company, owned by Sea Containers. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ...

The Great North Eastern Railway's Flying Scotsman is usually operated by a 'Mallard' InterCity 225, and the journey takes around 4½ hours. The InterCity 225 is the fastest domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark IV coaches and a Driving Van Trailer. ...

Locomotives

As a major link between the capital cities of England and Scotland, the Flying Scotsman was an extremely long and heavy train, especially in the days before road and air transport became common. As such, it has required very powerful locomotives. Locomotives used to haul (and in some cases, specifically designed to haul) the Flying Scotsman have included:

• Stirling 4-2-2 'Singles' (GNR 1870).
• Ivatt Class C2 (GNR 1897), the first British Atlantics.
• Gresley A1 and A3 Class Pacifics (LNER 1922), including the eponymous locomotive.
• Gresley A4 Class Pacifics (LNER 1935), the fastest steam locomotives ever.
• British Railways Class 55 'Deltic' (BR 1961), the most powerful diesels ever built in the UK.
• British Rail Intercity 125 (BR 1976).
• British Rail InterCity 225 (BR 1990, and GNER since 1996).

Patrick Stirling (29 June 1820 - 11 November 1895) was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway His father Robert Stirling was also an engineer. ... Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-2-2 locomotive has four leading wheels arranged in a leading truck, two driving wheels and two trailing wheels. ... Preserved No 1 The Great Northern Railway (GNR) G class Stirling Single is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. ... Henry Alfred Ivatt (16 September 1851 — 25 October 1923) was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway from 1896 to 1911. ... The first Atlantic locomotive in Great Britain, 990 Henry Oakley is preserved. ... A 15 gauge 4-4-2 operating on the Riverside and Great Northern Railway in Wisconsin Dells, WI. In the Whyte notation a 4-4-2 is a steam locomotive that has a two-axle leading truck, two powered driving axles and a one-axle trailing truck. ... Sir Nigel Gresley Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (19 June 1876 – 5 April 1941) was one of Britains most famous Steam locomotive engineers who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). ... // HISTORY The LNER Class A1/A3 Pacific Steam Locomotive was a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement steam locomotive class, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley wo later built the A4 pacifics and operated by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). ... The Pennsylvania Railroads class K4s, a well known 4-6-2 type. ... 4472 Flying Scotsman in 2003. ... 60034 Lord Farringdon at Aberdeen Ferryhill, 1965. ... Number 4468 Mallard is a London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive built in the 1930s by the LNER and designed by Sir Nigel Gresley in Doncaster, England. ... British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... British Rail assigned Class 55 to the twenty-two English Electric Type 5 express diesel locomotives built in 1961/2 and used for high-speed service on Britains East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh. ... This Virgin Trains High Speed Train is shown here running along the Dawlish sea-front. ... The InterCity 225 is the fastest domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark IV coaches and a Driving Van Trailer. ...

External links

• GNER Website
• The National Railway Museum