Ashes to ashes on last journey of the Flying Scotsman’s saviour
Shortly after 10.30am yesterday a prolonged and shrill whistle blasted from the Flying Scotsman as it powered through Lincolnshire, marking a poignant moment in railway history.
As the world famous steam locomotive climbed towards Stoke Bank, the ashes of Alan Pegler, pictured, were placed on a shovel and lowered carefully into the searing glow of the engine’s firebox.
A second whistle invited the 478 passengers aboard this special London to York commemorative trip to toast with champagne the life of the eccentric and flamboyant businessman who saved the locomotive from the scrap-heap.
Pegler’s ashes were committed to the fire on the very stretch of railtrack where the Scotsman entered the record books by breaking the 100mph speed barrier on November 30, 1934.
He had requested his ashes be placed in the firebox of the steam engine he called ‘‘old girl’’ before his death at the age of 91 on March 18, 2012. In the cab was Penny Vaudoyer, his daughter. ‘‘Fulfilling his wishes has been tremendously important to me,’’ she told The Sunday Telegraph. ‘‘It’s been amazing because my father was somebody who dreamed of steam engines and was so passionate about their preservation. It’s been very emotional.’’
. In January 1963, the Flying Scotsman retired from service and was destined for the scrap-heap.
Pegler bought the Scotsman for £3,000 and restored the locomotive to its former glory and brokered deals with British Rail to allow it to venture out on the network.
Wearing his blue overalls, he was regularly interviewed and photographed on the footplate promoting the engine that had done so much for the age of steam. He also took it on tours to America, Canada and Australia. – Telegraph Group