It’s the new people’s engine
You haven’t been able to step very far this month without hearing or reading about Flying Scotsman. There can be few people who don’t know it has returned to steam after ten years. The national press and TV fell over themselves to cover the re-launch at the East Lancashire Railway on January 8 - because Flying Scotsman is a romantic and powerful brand. The usually moribund local media are also excited, announcing dates and times when the ‘A3’ will be passing through their towns on main line specials. Steam Railway readers are a discerning bunch, and they will agree that the journalistic cliché ‘never let the facts get in the way of a good story’ has been an accurate description of some of the stories we’ve been fed. And we’re not going to spoil the party. In a month that presents some of the greatest challenges to main line steam since it was revived in 1971, the resurgence of ‘Scotsman’ couldn’t have come at a better time. We’re all celebrating the uplift that it will bring to our market. We basked in the great gathering of six ‘A4s’ at York in 2013, and suffered a hefty blow to our confidence in March 2015 when the main line programme was seriously disrupted, following the SPAD incident with Bulleid No. 34067 Tangmere at Wootton Bassett. Steam Railway prides itself on its objectivity, and it is important to place on record at this early stage of ‘Scotsman’s’ latest career that we fully support its return to the main line. We congratulate the teams who have achieved the engineering feat, and loyal supporters. However, our readers will also quite rightly expect us to peel off the thick layer of hype that has been spread over the project. The national media will soon move on to its next headline stealer, and we’ll all get our beloved ‘Scotsman’ back for ourselves. You’ve now got to be in your mid to late ’60s to remember the Somerset & Dorset, and even older to recall the Bath-Bournemouth ‘Joint’ main line and its branches in full flow. There are some notable commemorations taking place in the West Country in early March (half a century since its closure). One would imagine that everything that could have been said about such well-known routes has already appeared in print. We’re pleased to confirm that this is not so. How many realise that steam lingered for another ten days at Bath Green Park shed? Bob Bunyar tells all in this issue of Steam Railway. On a much lighter note, it’s a warm thanks to the many SR readers who went into creative overtime in response to the ‘What If’ quiz in our last issue. We challenged you to imagine what might have happened to the ‘Big Four’ locomotive fleets if their principal engineering figures had done their jobs differently. You have found inspiring uses for a large fleet of Bulleid ‘Leaders’, discussed further LNER class re-builds by its controversial CME Edward Thompson, the LMS without William Stanier, and replacement engines for the Isle of Wight. We’ll be sharing these responses with you in forthcoming issues. Prepare to be entertained.