It has now been a century since arguably the most famous steam locomotive in history, No 1472 Flying Scotsman, left the Doncaster Works where it was made. It was the third of a class of steam locomotives that would eventually number 79 engines, and did not originally even carry a name. The A1 4-6-2 though, was the biggest express steam engine ever to have been seen in Britain at the time. It was chosen to be displayed at a major exhibition at Wembley in 1924, and for this it was given the name Flying Scotsman. It hauled the London & North Eastern Railway’s first King’s Cross-to-Edinburgh nonstop express in 1928. It was the first steam engine in the world to officially break the 100mph barrier. Flying Scotsman has now become the one steam engine in the world of which everyone knows the name, and which most people would even recognise. It was briefly the only main line steam engine running in the whole of Britain, and it has travelled across the Atlantic and across America.
