Available Items
January 23, 2008 - The enthusiastic response to M.T.H.ﾒs first European offering, the Orient Express Chapelon Pacific announced in 2008 volume 1, has led to the decision to produce our first British prototype engine, the L.N.E.R. Flying Scotsman. Certainly the most well-traveled steam engine in history and one of the most beloved by railfans around the globe, the Scotsman has toured extensively in the U.S. (1969ﾖ72), Australia (1988ﾖ89), and the British Isles since its retirement by British Rail.
Built by the Doncaster works in 1923, engine 1472, later renumbered 4472, was the first production engine of a class of Pacifics designed by Sir Nigel Gresley of the London & North Eastern Railway. Gresley believed in a ﾓbalanced engine,ﾔ which to him meant three cylinders, two outside the frames and one in the middle. To synchronize the cylinders, Gresley developed his unique ﾓconjugated valve gear,ﾔ a pair of levers on the pilot deck that used the valve gear on the outside cylinders to drive the middle cylinder. This design was successful enough that ALCo licensed it for North American use and employed it on the three-cylinder Union Pacific 4-12-2, making the huge U.P. freighter a direct descendant of the Flying Scotsman. (The Premier model of the U.P. engine will be arriving at dealers next month, complete with working Gresley valve gear on its pilot deck.)
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Flying Scotsman shared its name with the L.N.E.Rﾒs premier train, famous for its non-stop 392-mile dash from London to Edinburgh. To allow for a change of crews during the 8ﾼ-hour trip, the Scotsman and its brethren were equipped with unique corridor tenders. A passageway through the water tank enabled crew members to pass between the leading coach and the cab.
Almost from birth, engine 4472 had been a flagship engine for the LNER, representing the railroad at public exhibitions in sparking apple-green livery. But after British railroads were nationalized in 1948 and diesels began appearing in the late 1950s, the Scotsman was relegated to lesser duties ﾗ until businessman Alan Pegler purchased the engine in 1963 and restored it to its former glory. For four decades, engine 4472ﾒs fortunes ebbed and flowed under a series of private owners until it returned to national ownership in 2004, aided in part by backing from Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines fame. The Scotsman is currently undergoing a complete restoration by the National Railway Museum in York, U.K., and is slated to return to steam in 2009.
Details of the Premier Flying Scotsman model are still being finalized and will be featured in the 2008 lineup later this year. Several paint versions will be offered including the as restored apple green by Alan Pegler in L.N.E.R. livery for British excursions. Of course the Flying Scotsman will offer the latest Premier features including quillable whistle and a correct six chuffs per driver revolution. The second, water-only corridor tender used on railfan excursions will be available as a separate-sale item, and proper British passenger cars will be offered in a future catalog. For more information on the prototype, you may want to visit the National Railway Museumﾒs Flying Scotsman Web pages at www.nrm.org.uk/flyingscotsman.