The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Flying Scotsman ready to set off on its way again
World-famous train will pull away from Inverness today after being repaired
The iconic Flying Scotsman train has been stuck in Inverness for four days undergoing repairs.
It is finally due to pull away today but part of its static display programme has been cancelled.
The 96-year-old train arrived in the Highland capital to cheering crowds on Friday and was due to leave on Sunday.
It has suffered tubing problems which engineers hope to resolve.
The owners of the world’s most famous locomotive, the National Railway Museum, said that it did not envisage the rest of the train’s main planned programme – including trips on the Forth Circle this Sunday – being affected.
A spokesman for the NRM said the train’s contracted engineers, Riley and Son (E) Ltd – based in Heywood, Manchester – had been working on the problems.
The locomotive previously visited Inverness in 2000 as part its last visit to Scotland.
The current tour saw the engine jointly haul the train with Mayflower, a B1 class steam locomotive built in 1948. Mayflower is running separate trips from Inverness to Wick and Thurso, and Kyle of Lochalsh, at extra cost.
The visit is Flying Scotsman’s fourth consecutive annual foray north of the border. Other previous excursions have been on the Borders Railway.
The 440-seat Flying Scotsman static displays at the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway, due today, will now happen on Saturday, said a spokesman for The Scottish Railway Preservation Society.
However the trips on the Forth Circle on Sunday will go ahead as planned with two of the three already sold out and only 50 of the £99 standard class seats left.
First class tickets cost £149 – and all have been snapped up.
Three special excursions cross the World Heritage designated Forth Bridge to Fife and travel along the north shore of the Firth of Forth through Aberdour, Burntisland and Kinghorn to Kirkcaldy.
Each train continues through Dunfermline and along the coast through Culross and Kincardine then over line through Clackmannan and Alloa to Stirling with views of the Ochil Hills and the Wallace Monument.
Flying Scotsman’s mechanical problems come in the wake of warnings that it could be banned from mainline tracks after trespassers caused chaos on rail services while trying to spot the locomotive.
Some 56 regular passenger trains were delayed on Sunday last week after trainspotters were seen standing next to the tracks to catch a glimpse of the world-famous steam train.