Flying Scotsman: 2022 plans revealed for world's most famous locomotive as it prepares for centenary

And Flying Scotsman is set to return to the railway this weekend before it celebrates its centenary next year with a new exhibition announced for York’s National Railway Museum.

The No. 60103 Flying Scotsman is regarded as one of the most famous locomotives in the world, and is now owned by the museum after a fundraising campaign to save it for the nation in 2004, some £70,000 of which was donated by readers of The Yorkshire Post.

Ahead of its centenary, the locomotive – designed by Nigel Gresley and built in Doncaster – will undergo a boiler haul in April which will last between three and four months.

The overhaul will be carried out by Riley & Son (E) Ltd, the engineering firm that operates and maintains Flying Scotsman, and fitted to the same standard as the last time similar works were carried out in 2016.

With much of the mechanical work already completed during the enforced down-time caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, work will centre on the boiler and the required retube and recertification, the National Railway Museum said.

Before the essential works are carried out, it will run on four services, all in the South of England, the first of which will take place on Saturday and will see the train travel from London Paddington to Worcester, organised by the Railway Touring Company.

Following weekends in March will see it travel from London Paddington to Oxford, organised by The Steam Dreams Rail Company, and two trips from London Victoria to Canterbury and then to Salisbury.

Flying Scotsman’s journeys are usually accompanied by swathes of trainspotters who line the routes to catch a glimpse of the locomotive, which came into service in 1923.

Dedicated lovers of the locomotive are invited to help shape the centenary celebration of the exhibition, called Flying Scotsman: 100 Years, 100 Voices. The museum is asking members of the public to get in touch to help define the exhibition and to share their memories of Flying Scotsman – whether through personal records, letters, photographs, or film clips.

Scheduled to launch at the museum and online next year, the exhibition and film will feature 100 distinct ‘voices’ of people connected to Flying Scotsman’s story, from former drivers, railway workers and members of the public.

Charlotte Kingston, the head of interpretation and design at the National Railway Museum, said: “Often described as ‘the people’s engine’, we want to hear what Flying Scotsman means to you, whether it’s through working on the railways, seeing Scotsman as a child or another cherished memory. We hope that Flying Scotsman: 100 Years, 100 Voices will help create a lasting and important chapter in the Flying Scotsman story.”