Hornby Flying Scotsman

Brief History: The Flying Scotsman was the name given to a scheduled railway service, the 10.00 London Kings Cross to Edinburgh and the returning 13.00 Edinburgh service to the capital.

Initially this service started way back in 1862 and the journey lasted, on average, 10 1/2 hours. This included a stop over at York for dinner and a comfort break at Newcastle (no lavatories on the train back in yesteryear). Following the First World War, a great deal of rebuilding to the railway network was undertaken including wholesale building of new steam locomotives.

With many well documented steam locomotives coming off the drawing boards, one of the most admired was the A3 designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for the Great Northern Railway (GNR). One particular A3, built in 1923, was unceremoniously given the GNR number 1472N and carried the new London and North Eastern Railway branding. This locomotive was soon re-numbered to 4472.

Although all of her A3 stable mates were named after racehorses, in 1924, 4472 was named 'Flying Scotsman' and so the legend began. With quality and speed improvements over the East Coast main line, it was decided that on 1st May 1928 there would be the first non-stop timetabled passenger service between Kings Cross and Edinburgh.

The decision was taken that 4472 Flying Scotsman was to haul the very first run over the 392 mile distance. This became a record for a scheduled service and set the standard that the competing pre-nationalized railway companies had to content with. 4472 also entered folklore.

Though many locomotives hauled the 10.00 from Kings Cross and 13.00 from Edinburgh, it was 4472 the Flying Scotsman that will forever and a day be synonymous with the majesty of East Coast travel.

As well as having such a famous name, the Flying Scotsman will also be remembered as the first steam engine to reach the milestone of 100mph in 1934. Although Flying Scotsman was re-numbered on three further occasions to 502, 103 and eventually E103, she will always be remembered as No. 4472. Following nationalization of the railways in 1948, Flying Scotsman was yet again re-numbered as BR 60103 and continued in service until her withdrawal from the main line in 1963.

By this time, the 10.00 and 13.00 return service had been taken over by the Deltics, a diesel locomotive class that would eventually gain as much popularity as their steam predecessors.

Flying Scotsman was rescued from the cutters torch, a fate that befell the majority of her classmates and after a lengthy restoration and journeys around the world as a showcase, now has pride of place at the National Rail Museum in York (UK).

At the time of writing, the Flying Scotsman is in the capable hands of engineers at York NRM and is subject to a total restoration. The plan is to have this locomotive back to her exquisite best and prepared for a return to main line service again in 2011, almost 50 years after withdrawal. Over the years, many models have been produced of the Flying Scotsman both in HO, OO and O gauge.

One of the most popular by far is the much improved Hornby Flying Scotsman.

This is a super model with an immaculate finish and has lovely detailing. It is produced in a variety of guises - as an individual model, as a limited edition or in the very popular Hornby train set with complementary coaches, track and an AC power controller. The Hornby model inspires any layout depending on the era as you can find most variants of the livery / running number to suit.

As there have been so many variations of this model over the decades, the continuation of production and the enhancements to the moulding prove that the Flying Scotsman romance is still as strong as ever both in model form and in reality. The Hornby model accurately reflects the original and is a testament to the beauty and finesse associated with 4472 powering up the East Coast with that eponymous headboard on the front of the locomotive - the Flying Scotsman.