A LEGEND steamed through Rugby yesterday.
The Flying Scotsman is arguably the most famous locomotive ever to run the rails.
It was built in Doncaster and left the works in February 1923 to become the first locomotive of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). It was then merely a number – 1472
The following year it was selected to appear at the British Empire Exhibition in London. It had been renumbered 4472 – but had also been given its now famous name ‘Flying Scotsman’ after the London to Edinburgh rail service which ran daily at 10am.
In 1928, it was given a new type of tender with a corridor, which meant a new crew could take over without stopping the train. This allowed it to haul the first ever non-stop London to Edinburgh service on May 1, reducing the journey time to eight hours.
In 1934, Scotsman was clocked at 100mph on a special test run – officially the first locomotive in the UK to have reached that speed.
The Flying Scotsman now offers rail enthusiasts the chance to ride the rails behind the famous locomotive – and Keith Ward captured this photo as it passed through Rugby.
