Chapter 37: Very Special Visitor
(Tuesday, July 3rd 2012 – 7:45am; Vicarstown Depot)
Okay, everyone…in this chapter you're about to read, Carrie is finally gonna get the chance to travel on the footplate of a very special engine indeed! And it's one of the many British steam locomotives that are still in existence today, and one which is very special, and thus very dear to the hearts of a lot of British people, and it's one I had always intended to add into this story at some point as it went along. Which locomotive is it? Well…read the chapter ahead of us to see which engine it is!
Carrie stirred, opened her eyes, and, after a short while, threw the duvet aside and got out of the very comfortable bed she was occupying in the large crew building in the Vicarstown Motive Power Depot. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she stretched her arms out and yawned. Then she stood up, and went over towards the window; pulling aside the curtain, she looked outside and saw the activity that was going on in the yard. She could see different locomotives, some of which were going about through the yard on their way to their first jobs or into the depot, as others were being readied for the day of work ahead.
The previous afternoon, Carrie had been working on the footplate of L.M.S. Princess Royal Class No.46204 Princess Louise on the later afternoon/early evening express train from Knapford to Vicarstown, with 16 coaches full of passengers coupled behind her. By the time they arrived at Vicarstown Station at about 6:40pm, Carrie was feeling quite exhausted from all the hard work she had done on the footplate of Louise, and not to mention all the work she had done earlier on in the day. And so, by that time of the day, she was really eager to get to the crew building and get some well-earned dinner before she could turn in for the night.
After arriving at the crew building sometime later, she was assigned a room, where she too the chance to have a long hot shower to wash off all the sweat, dust and grime off her. Afterwards, when she had dried off and changed, she made her way downstairs to the cafeteria, where, along with other apprentices on the apprenticeship scheme, as well as other Sodor engine crewmen, she enjoyed a fine hot dinner which went down a treat. Following that, she spent some time socialising in the rec-room upstairs before deciding to go back to her room and turn in a little after 9:30pm, where she fell into a deep sleep not too long after her head hit the pillow.
Now, feeling much better after a good, long sleep, and seeing all the morning activity taking place in the depot before her, Carrie went to get ready for the day ahead of her.
(Later on; after breakfast)
After finished her breakfast in the cafeteria, where she had a full English breakfast, which she washed down with a cup of hot coffee, Carrie went back up to her room and gathered up all her things in her bag, and then, after putting on a fresh set of overalls that had been provided, as well as an orange high-viz vest and her railway cap, she clocked in for the day, and then went outside to see which engine she would be assigned to work on this morning. With her were many of the other recruits, each of whom were curious to see which engine they would be working on, either for the day, or just for the morning before being assigned to work on another engine elsewhere on the Island of Sodor later on in the day.
Looking up into the sky high above, Carrie was very pleased to see that it was a very bright and clear morning, with no clouds to be seen or blocking out the sun shining out from the bright summer sky. It promised to be a perfect day for running trains.
As the recruits were being assigned their charges for the day, Carrie was wondering to which engine she would be given the chance to work on, whether it would be on a slow freight job, or on a faster passenger train. But she knew that she would find out soon enough.
Eventually, it was Carrie's turn and, as all the names were being called out in alphabetical order, her name was last. As she wondered where she would be assigned to, the yard foreman stepped over to her.
"Now, Carrie…the Fat Controller has assigned a very special engine for you to travel on for this morning." said the yard foreman.
"And which engine is it?" Carrie asked, with her curiosity now up as to which engine it may be. And the yard foreman chuckled for a moment before he spoke again.
"Just wait and see, Carrie. Follow me this way, please." he said. Now with her curiosity up even more, Carrie followed along behind the yard foreman to the engine she was assigned to.
They walked along for a few minutes into the depot, and crossed over a few lines, before they finally arrived at one of the larger sheds. Stepping in front of the wide and open entrance, the yard foreman stopped.
"And here he is...there's the engine who you'll be travelling on for this morning, Carrie." said the yard foreman, with a proud smile on his face.
Carrie stood still for a few short moments and looked over the big locomotive before her, which was being looked over by some of the men who were busy getting him ready for the day ahead; this big engine looked very much like Gordon in just about all respects, except for the fact that he was painted in lined L.N.E.R. apple green express passenger livery, which had been polished down to a very high shine so it looked very smart, and there were TWO tenders coupled up behind him, the first one coupled behind the engine carried about 5,000 gallons of water and 9 tons of coal and the second of which carried only about 11,000 gallons of water inside of it. On the side of the first tender coupled immediately behind the locomotive were the letters L.N.E.R. painted in bright yellow with red edging, and painted in a very similar manner on the side of the second tender were the numbers 4472. And coupled up behind the second tender was a bright red support coach, with its paintwork having been polished to a very high standard, which carried all the things this engine would need when travelling on lines on the main land.
"Hang on a second…is...is that…" Carrie asked, as he eyes opened a little wider and her jaw dropped in a slightly stunned disbelief, unable to finish her sentence.
"Yes Carrie, it is. That's the most famous steam locomotive in the entire world…none other than Flying Scotsman himself (62)." said the yard foreman. For several moments, Carrie stood in quiet astonishment, unable to believe she was now face to face with L.N.E.R Gresley A3 Class No.4472 Flying Scotsman, the most famous steam locomotive anywhere in the world, and that he was here, stood before her.
"The Fat Controller invited him over here for a few weeks, and the National Railway Museum in York agreed to it. And Carrie, as a reward for all your hard work over the last few months, the Fat Controller has given you the honour of being the very first person in the apprenticeship scheme to work on his footplate" said the yard foreman. And Carrie was so happy to be given that honour, that she didn't know what to say.
(62): The A1/A3 Class 4-6-2 Pacific express passenger locomotives of the London & North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R.) were built for hauling heavy express passenger trains along the East Coast Main Line without assistance. They were designed by Nigel Gresley and the first examples were initially built by the Great Northern Railway at Doncaster Works, with the rest being built by the L.N.E.R. They were the third class designed by Gresley for the G.N.R. to feature a layout of three cylinders, with all cylinders driving onto the middle-coupled axle. Gresley's own conjugated valve gear design was paired with the cylinders.
In total, 79 examples of the class were built between April 1922 and February 1935, with the first member of the class, No.1470 Great Northern, emerging from Doncaster Works in April 1922, and was the first of 52 examples to be built to be that were designated as A1. From August 1928, the first example of the upgraded A1s, which were later known as A3s, came into service, with the final example of the A3 Class emerging in February 1935. Later, from July 1927 until December 1948, 51 of the 52 A1s were rebuilt as A3s, with the sole example not rebuilt to an A3, No.4470 Great Northern, being rebuilt as an A1/1 under Edward Thompson in 1945. Of the 79 engines built, 59 were constructed at Doncaster Works, while the remaining 20 were built by the North British Locomotive Company.
Many engines in the class were named after famous racehorses, but there were seven who were named differently from the rest; these engines were No.4470 Great Northern, No.2563 William Whitelaw, No.4472 Flying Scotsman, No.2555 Centenary, No.2579 Dick Turpin, No.2553 Prince of Wales, and No.2564 Knight of the Thistle (later Knight of Thistle)
Although the initial A1s and later A3s shared the same wheel diameter of 6ft 8in, the tractive effort between the two types differed considerable depending upon the boiler pressure, the superheating elements that were fitted to the boilers, and the sizes of the cylinders. When initially built, the A1s were fitted with cylinders that were 20in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke and paired with a boiler that were pressed to 180psi, which gave the A1s a tractive effort of 29,835lbf. The first A3s were also fitted with the same cylinder size and paired with a boiler pressed to 220psi, which gave them a tractive effort of 36,465lbf. Eventually, the final cylinder size for the A3 Class was 19in by 26in, which combined with a boiler pressure of 220psi gave the class a maximum tractive effort of 32,910lbf. The A3s had more than double the area of superheating that the A1s had, and the presence of the larger superheaters could be seen by the square covers that were on each side of the smokeboxes.
The numbers and names of the Gresley A1/A3 Class were;
No.4470 Great Northern, No.4471 Sir Frederick Banbury, No.4472 Flying Scotsman, No.4473 Solario, No.4474 Victor Wild, No.4475 Flying Fox, No.4476 Royal Lancer,
No.4477 Gay Crusader, No.4478 Hermit, No.4479 Robert the Devil, No.4480 Enterprise, No.4481 St Simon, No.2543 Melton, No.2544 Lemberg, No.2545 Diamond Jubilee,
No.2546 Donovan, No.2547 Doncaster, No.2548 Galtee More, No.2549 Persimmon, No.2550 Blink Bonny, No.2551 Prince Palatine, No.2552 Sansovino,
No.2553 Manna (later Prince of Wales),No.2554 Woolwinder, No.2555 Centenary, No.2556 Ormonde, No.2557 Blair Athol, 2558 Tracery, No.2559 The Tetrarch,
No.2560 Pretty Polly, No.2561 Minoru, No.2562 Isinglass, No.2563 William Whitelaw (later Tagalie), No.2564 Knight of the Thistle (later Knight of Thistle),
No.2565 Merry Hampton, No.2566 Ladas, No.2567 Sir Visto, No.2568 Sceptre, No.2569 Gladiateur, No.2570 Tranquil, No.2571 Sunstar, No.2572 St. Gatien,
No.2573 Harvester, No.2574 St. Frusquin, No.2575 Galopin, No.2576 The White Knight, No.2577 Night Hawk, No.2578 Bayardo, No.2579 Dick Turpin, No.2580 Shotover,
No.2581 Neil Gow, No.2582 Sir Hugo,No.2743 Felstead, No.2744 Grand Parade, No.2745 Captain Cuttle, No.2746 Fairway, No.2747 Coronach, No.2748 Colorado,
No.2749 Flamingo, No.2750 Papyrus, No.2751 Humorist, No.2752 Spion Kop, No.2595 Trigo, No.2596 Manna, No.2597 Gainsborough, No.2598 Blenheim, No.2599 Book Law,
No.2795 Call Boy, No.2796 Spearmint, No.2797 Cicero, No.2500 Windsor Lad, No.2501 Columbo, No.2502 Hyperion, No.2503 Firdaussi, No.2504 Sandwich,
No.2505 Cameronian, No.2506 Salmon Trout, No.2507 Singapore and No.2508 Brown Jack.
In 1924, No.4472 Flying Scotsman was put on display at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley alongside G.W.R. Castle Class 4-6-0 No.4073 Caerphilly Castle, which was claimed to be Britain's most powerful steam locomotive. During a series of exchange trials between the G.W.R. and the L.N.E.R., involving A1 No.4477 Gay Crusader and Castle No.4079 Pendennis Castle, it was shown that the G.W.R. Castle was more powerful than the Gresley A1. So as a result of this, improvements were made to the L.N.E.R. class; this included fitting longer travel valve gear with increased lap, which reduced back pressure from the exhaust, and allowed for much better economy in terms of coal and water usage. A complete redesign of the valve gear, initially fitted on No.2555 Centenary in 1927, was eventually fitted on all the class.
Another modification made was when No.4480 Enterprise was fitted with a boiler pressed to 220psi, and improved superheating was fitted to the A3 Class, with the boilers containing more large tubes for superheating elements, thus massively increasing the area of superheating to create steam with a much higher temperature. The presence of the larger superheater could be recognized by the sight of square covers on each side of the smokeboxes of the A3 Class, a feature that the locomotives would be fitted with for the rest of their existence.
The A1 Class were initially coupled up to Great Northern-style tenders, which had coal rails fitted along the top so as to allow the tenders to carry more coal in order to extend the range of the locomotives. However, the class were soon coupled to a brand-new tender design that ran on eight wheels, and that could carry up to 8 tons of coal and 5,000 gallons of water. In 1928, a new tender design was introduced; this had a corridor connection running through it which allowed crews to change over while the train was on the move. The new tender was a modern design with the high side sheets curving in at the top, and had a coal capacity of 9 tons. Initially, a coal rail was provided at the top of this new tender design, but it was later found to be unnecessary. The tenders were also fitted with water scoops, so that more water could be taken on to replenish the tender tanks from water troughs from between the rails while the trains were on the move.
The A3s were initially known as "Super Pacifics", and the first of them to appear, No.2743 Felstead, was fitted with a 220psi boiler with 20in diameter cylinders, greatly increased superheating, long travel valves, an improved lubrication system, and modified weight distribution. The controls in the cab were also changed, from the original right-hand drive to left-hand drive, which was much more for convenient for the driver to try and sight the signals by the side of the line.
The A1s and later A3s proved to be very popular machines with their crews, especially as they rode magnificently on the main line, especially at speed. With their large and comfortable cabs, they had plenty of shelter for their crews, and the crews were also provided with comfortable padded bucket seats, for the first time in British locomotive history.
In their early careers, the A1 Class were a match for the performances that were demanded of them in the early 1920's, and they were able to take much heavier loads single-handed than their predecessors could, which were G.N.R. C1 and C2 4-4-2 Atlantic Classes. A good example of this was when No.1471 Sir Frederick Banbury took a 20-coach train, weighing over 600 tons, over the 105 miles from London to Grantham at an average speed of 51.8mph. But this achievement came at a cost of heavy coal consumption.
After modifications were made to the A1 Class, the locomotives were able to undertake long-distance non-stop runs that had previous been considered impossible for any engine to undertake. This included running non-stop on the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, which was scheduled to be covered in a little over 8 hours. The very first service on the new run, which took place in May 1928, was hauled by none other than No.4472 Flying Scotsman, named after the famous express train that ran from London to Scotland.
Another major achievement for the A1/A3 Class took place in November 1934, when, while on a return run between London and Leeds, No.4472 Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to be officially clocked running at 100mph while on Stoke Bank near Little Bytham Station. Sometime later, in March 1935, when on a trial run to and back from Newcastle Upon Tyne, A3 No.2750 Papyrus achieved a number of impressive records, including running for a distance of 12.3 miles at a speed of 100.6mph, covering 500 miles in one day of running at an average speed of 72.7mph, and achieving a maximum speed of 108mph. The fact that No.2750 Papyrus ran for more than 12 miles at a speed of over 100mph was a world record for a non-streamlined steam locomotive, and was shared with a French Pacific locomotive designed by the famous French railway engineer Andre Chapelon.
During the General Strike in May 1926, one example of the class, No.2565 Merry Hampton, was deliberately derailed near Cramlington, Northumberland when striking miners deliberately removed some of the fishplates, coach screws, and a length of track, which resulted in No.2565 turning over on her left side with her front buffers pushed up against a disused signal box. Five passenger coaches were also derailed in the accident, with them ending up at different angles across the track. As the train had been travelling at a reduced speed, no one was killed in the incident, but a number of miners were arrested and prosecuted for their role in the accident. Afterwards, No.2565 was repaired and returned to work three months after the incident happened.
When the first examples of Gresley's A4 Pacifics came into service in September 1935, the A1/A3 Class were reallocated to other duties, but still continued to work very well on the main line and on passenger trains. During the war years, the class performed very well on the duties they had to perform in support of the nation and its war effort. But despite that, the class suffered from the low standards of maintenance characteristic of this time, and they hadn't been designed for conditions like that. As a result, the class suffered from lack of maintenance, and in particularly their complex conjugated valve gear, which only worked at its best when well-maintained.
After Gresley died in office in April 1941, Edward Thompson took over as the L.N.E.R.'s C.M.E., and in 1945, after the war came to an end, he requested an example of a Pacific Class locomotive to be rebuilt into his own design for an express passenger locomotive with 6ft 8in driving wheels. As a result of this, the very first member of the Gresley A1/A3 Class, No.4470 Great Northern, was chosen to be rebuilt as the first example of Thompson's new A1/1 Class.
After being rebuilt at Doncaster Works, No.4470 Great Northern was a very different locomotive from that she'd been before. Gresley's conjugated valve hear had been removed in favour of three independent sets of Walschaerts valve gear, and the original boiler had been replaced with a diagram No.107 boiler, as used on Gresley's A4 Pacific Class, which meant A4 frames had to be used. The smokebox was developed based on practice set by the rebuilt P2s, by then A2/2s. A double chimney with a Kylchap exhaust system was fitted in the smokebox with smoke deflectors being fitted by the end of 1945., The original cab was replaced with one that had a flat front. The cab floor was also made flat for safety reasons. Electric lighting and hinged discs were also fitted, so as to make working at night easier.
The rebuilt No.4470 had divided drive, with the inside cylinder driving the front driving axle and the two outside cylinders driving the second axle. This resulted in an engine with an elongated appearance, with the outside cylinders being set further back behind the leading bogie. The engine was fitted with three cylinders, each being 19in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke which, combined with 6ft 8in driving wheels, a boiler fitted with superheating and pressed to 250psi, gave the A1/1 a tractive effort of 37,400lbf, which made it one of the most powerful Pacifics within the L.N.E.R.
During the rest of its service life, the rebuilt No.4470 Great Northern proved itself to be a very good and reliable performer, and possessed excellent steam generation abilities due to its A4 boiler. It did suffer from a number of inevitable teething problems after being built, but these were eventually fixed. It spent most of its working life based either at Grantham or Doncaster, though it was based down at King's Cross on the odd occasion.
In B.R. days, Great Northern was given the number of No.60113, and for the rest of its working life, it achieved significantly higher availability than any other Pacific classes on the L.N.E.R. However, when Arthur Peppercorn took over as C.M.E. of the L.N.E.R., he altered Thompson's design and introduced his own A1 Class Pacifics, which were just as powerful as No.60113 and built in much larger numbers. No.60113, which had been designated as an A1 up until the first Peppercorn A1 was introduced, was then redesignated as an A1/1.
No.60113 Great Northern was withdrawn from service on November 19th 1962, as its inside cylinder was found to be badly worn out by then, and it was then scrapped at Doncaster Works not too long after. By the time it was withdrawn, No.60113 had achieved the highest mileage of any of Thompson's Pacific locomotives, and it was a very good locomotive in terms of its availability for work. An attempt was made to save the engine for preservation, considering its historical importance in British railway history, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.
After the end of the war, the last examples of the Gresley's original A1s, which were by then redesignated as A10s, were rebuilt as A3s, though they still had their problems due to being worked hard during the war years. The main problem that they had was with their conjugated valve gear, which was knackered due to the lack of maintenance during the war, and keeping them in order was difficult due to the limited space in between the frames. However, with help from the Great Western Railway, a Zeiss optical system was used to properly line up the frames, cylinders, and main axle bearings on A3s being brought in for overhaul. Combined with improved lubrication methods, the result was that all this work helped the A3s perform much better than they had before.
By the mid-1950's, all those members of the A3 Class that had originally been built with right-hand drive had all been converted to left-hand drive, and from 1954 some of the class were fitted with A4 boilers, with the pressure being reduced to 220psi.
Despite other locomotive types coming into service, the A3 Class Pacifics still continued to perform their duties well along the East Coast Main Line, including on express passenger services and fitted freights. In the late 50's/early 60's, the class underwent another major series of improvements. The class were fitted with double chimneys and Kylchap exhaust systems, which reduced exhaust back pressure and made the A3s run much more freely as well as making them more economical in terms of coal and water usage. However, the softer exhaust generated by this system resulted in clouds of smoky exhaust often obstructing the view of the drivers, and so to combat against this issue, German-style smoke deflectors were fitted on the smokeboxes of the A3s, which changed the appearance of each of the class in their latter days of work. One example of the class, No.60097 Humorist, was fitted with a large set of smoke deflectors in 1947 and kept these fitted until it was withdrawn.
In December 1959, the first member of the A3 Class, No.60104 Solario, was withdrawn from service, but the class remained intact until 1961, when the next six examples, No.60095 Flamingo, No.60079 Bayardo, No.60055 Woolwinder, No.60064 Tagalie, No.60035 Windsor Lad, and No.60102 Sir Frederick Banbury were withdrawn in April, September, and November respectively that year. During their final years in service, the A3s were reallocated to other duties including with working trains either in Scotland or on the Midland Route out of Leeds. This was due to the fact that brand new Deltic diesel locomotives had taken over most of their duties along the East Coast Main Line.
By September 1966, the final member of the Gresley A3 Class, No.60052 Prince Palatine, had been withdrawn from service.
Thankfully, one example of the class has survived into preservation; this engine is none other than No.4472 Flying Scotsman. Built at Doncaster Works in February 1923, she was withdrawn from service on British Railways in January 1963, by which time she had covered well over 2,000,000 miles. But instead of being scrapped, she was bought straight from B.R. for preservation by Alan Pegler, who had her restored to as near as possible her original condition, complete with lined L.N.E.R. apple green livery, a corridor tender, a single chimney, and no smoke deflectors.
Afterward being returned to as near her original condition, Flying Scotsman then worked throughout the 1960's on a good number of main line rail-tours, including where she was paired with a second tender later in the decade to carry more water, up to 11,000 gallons, in order to extend her range on the main line without having to stop for water, and due to the massively reduced number of watering facilities for steam locomotives that were available around that time.
In May 1968, in order to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first non-stop run from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley in 1928, Flying Scotsman undertook a very special non-stop run along the East Coast Main Line between the two cities, which proved to be an enormous success, and attracted plenty of media interest. A similar non-stop return run was made from Edinburgh down to London Kings Cross three days later.
When steam traction came to an end in August 1968, British Railways imposed a ban on any steam locomotives operating on the national network. However, Flying Scotsman was the only exception to this ban, as due to an agreement between Alan Peglar and the British Railways Board, No.4472 was still allowed to run on the main line until 1970. The ban on steam locomotives running on the national network was lifted in 1972.
In 1969, Alan Pegler took Flying Scotsman over to the United States and Canada for a special tour, where, while hauling a special 9-coach exhibition train to support British exports, they visited places like Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Wisconsin, as well as Montreal and Toronto. For running on the rail lines of North America, Flying Scotsman had to be fitted with a special warning bell, a cowcatcher on her front buffer-beam, a special high-intensity headlight fitted over the smokebox, an American-style whistle on the right hand side of the smokebox, air brakes, and buckeye couplers. But unfortunately, the trip proved to be a financial disaster for Pegler, who declared bankruptcy, leaving the engine stranded in a U.S. Army depot in California.
However, Flying Scotsman was saved from an uncertain future by William McAlpine, who managed to get her back to the U.K. during 1973, with her returning to the U.K. via the Panama Canal. After returning home in February 1973, she ran under her own power to Derby Works where she was restored, with big crowds lining the route she ran while she was on her way there. During the rest of the 1970's and 1980's, Flying Scotsman ran many duties along heritage railways and on the main line, including in 1975 where she took part in the Rail 150 celebrations at Shildon, in 1980 where she took part in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and in 1984 where she hauled the Royal Train to the opening of the North Woolwich Old Station Museum with the Queen Mother onboard.
In 1977, when Flying Scotsman was undergoing heavy repairs at Barrow in Furness, she was fitted with a boiler from that had originally been used on an A4 Class Pacific. Due to the A4 boiler being of a slightly different size from the original A3 class boiler the cladding on Flying Scotsman had to be replaced in order to accommodate the new boiler.
From 1988 to 89, Flying Scotsman went abroad once again when she visited Australia in order to take part in Australia's bi-centenary celebrations, as part of Aus Steam '88. In that trip, Flying Scotsman travelled more than 28,000 miles over Australian rails, and visited cities like Sydney, Perth, Alice Springs, and Melbourne. While she was on her tour over there, Flying Scotsman, who had been specially fitted with electric lighting and air-brakes for running on Australian railway lines, double-headed a train with Australia's very own celebrity locomotive, No.3801, and she also set the record for the longest non-stop run that was ever undertaken by a steam locomotive, when she travelled a distance of 422 miles non-stop in between Parkes and Broken Hill. She also had a special reunion with G.W.R. Castle Class 4-6-0 No.4079 Pendennis Castle in Perth. While she was down under, Flying Scotsman undertook a very special return transcontinental run from Sydney to Perth via Alice Springs, and became the very first steam locomotive to travel on the then recently-built standard gauge line to Alice Springs. While she was on her return trip back to the U.K., Flying Scotsman became the very first steam locomotive to circumnavigate the globe.
In 2004, after being owned by her third owner, Dr Tony Marchington, for a number of years and who restored her to running condition during the 1990's, No.4472 Flying Scotsman was bought by the National Railway Museum for around £2.3 million, with help from Sir Richard Branson, and finally became part of the National Collection. Very late in 2005, she was withdrawn for a major overhaul, which took the best part of 10 years to carry out, due to there being more problems than had been expected. By the time the overhaul was completed in late 2015/early 2016, it had cost somewhere in the region of £4.2 million. During that overhaul, the A4 boiler that had originally been fitted to Flying Scotsman for the previous few years was replaced with an A3 boiler. In January 2016, with overhaul at last complete, Flying Scotsman moved under her own power again for the first time since 2005 along the East Lancashire Railway, and then returned to the main line that February, painted in B.R. lined express green livery, carrying smoke deflectors on both sides of her smokebox, and with her B.R. number of No.60103.
For her centenary year of 2023, Flying Scotsman took part in a number of different special events, including static displays, runs on the main line, and runs on a number of different heritage railways. On International Women's Day in March 2023, Flying Scotsman was under the control of an all-female crew for the second time in its history. In September 2023, Flying Scotsman was involved in a slow-speed collision with the Belmond Royal Scotsman at the Strathspey Railway at Aviemore Highland, which resulted in five people being injured with two of them requiring hospitalisation, but No.60103 suffered no damage at all in the incident.
In this story, three Gresley Class A3s will be appearing; as well as Flying Scotsman, they will include No.60102 Sir Frederick Banbury and No.60110 Robert the Devil, with the latter two being part of the Sodor Railway system. Flying Scotsman will be appearing in a number of chapters as the story proceeds, including in at least two where he'll appear at around the time when Carrie's classmates and some people from Chamberlain come to Sodor to see Carrie. In this story, Flying Scotsman will be fitted with 20in diameter by 26in piston stroke cylinders, which combined with a boiler fitted with superheating and pressed to 250psi, and 6ft 8in diameter driving wheels, will give him a maximum tractive effort of 41,438lbf.
One more thing; during the summer of 2012, Flying Scotsman was actually undergoing a major overhaul at the National Railway Museum in York, and so seeing Flying Scotsman in running order during the summer of 2012 on the Island of Sodor is just pure fiction, but at the same time is quite necessary for the conduct of this story.
"Oh, hello there, miss. Are you the recruit who's being assigned to me for this morning?" Flying Scotsman asked. For a few moments, Carrie stood in stunned silence, before she regained her composure and, taking in a deep breath, spoke out.
"Yes…yes, I am! I'm Carrie White, and I've heard so much about you, Flying Scotsman!" Carrie said, as she stepped forwards towards the famous Gresley A3 Pacific.
"It's nice to meet you too, Carrie, and I'm looking forward to having you work on my footplate on the trip over to Knapford!" said Flying Scotsman.
A moment later, two women, both of whom were dressed up in similar overalls and high-viz orange safety vests as Carrie, stepped out from behind Flying Scotsman. One of them had blonde hair, like Carrie, and the second one had light brown hair.
"Oh, hello there, miss! Are you the recruit who's going to be working on Flying Scotsman from her to Knapford?" the woman with the blonde hair asked, as she stretched her right hand towards Carrie.
"Yes, I am. I'm Carrie White, and I'm the one who's been given the luck of travelling on Flying Scotsman today." Carrie said, as she shook this woman's hand, and looked over this young blonde-haired woman before her. She had her blonde hair up in a ponytail, and her facial features did remind Carrie of her classmate Sue Snell in a small way, except that this woman was somewhat older, possibly in her late 20's.
"Welcome to the team, Carrie. My name is Laura, and I'm going to be Flying Scotsman's driver for the time he's here on Sodor, and this woman here is Chloe, and she's gonna be the fireman for Flying Scotsman while we're on Sodor." Laura said.
"It's nice to meet you, Carrie. We're looking forward to seeing what you can do to help keep an engine going on the main line, and especially one as famous as Flying Scotsman." Chloe said, as she took shook hands with Carrie.
"Thanks." Carrie said with a smile, as she took a moment to look over Chloe; her light-brown hair was also done up in a ponytail, and just like Laura, she also appeared to be in her late 20's.
"Well, ladies…" said the yard foreman, "…you'd better get ready to go. After all, it's 8:25am now, and your first train is due to leave from Vicarstown Station at 9:10am, so you'd better get a move on."
"Okay, let's get to work." Chloe said, as the three women turned and walked over to make the last preparations on Flying Scotsman.
For the next 15 minutes or so, and with some help from the shed staff, the three women worked around Flying Scotsman to get him ready for his first train of the day. The jobs included oiling around all the moving parts and the bearings, giving the paintwork a last rub down and a polish so that it shone brightly. Very soon, they were ready to set off, but they had two final jobs to do before they could head out to Vicarstown Station, and these were to refill the coal space in the first with coal, and to top off the water spaces in both tenders with more water.
With Laura sitting down in the padded driver's seat and both Chloe and Carrie ready to stoke the boiler as they went along on their journey, it was time for them to be on their way. Laura blew the whistle and opened the regulator a little, and with a large cloud of billowing condensed steam, Flying Scotsman slowly rolled forward out of the shed and towards the coaling stage.
"Make sure to line up the tender perfectly under the coaling stage, Laura! After all, we don't want any coal spilling out over the sides of the tender when we get loaded up." Chloe said.
"I know, Chloe! I've driven many different locomotives over the last few years, and so I know what it's like." Laura said, as she allowed Flying Scotsman to roll slowly forwards. Leaning out from the right-hand side of the cab, Carrie looked out and watched as they slowly approached the tall coaling stage, which was made out of steel reinforced concrete and seemed to dominate much of the yard.
Once in place under the coaling stage, there came the loud sound of coal as it fell down the chute and down into the coal space in the first tender, in a cloud of loose, black dust. Having stepped off the footplate for this part of the job, Carrie watched as Laura got back on the footplate and drove Flying Scotsman forward a few yards, and then put the brakes on.
"Come on, Carrie. Let's climb up onto the first tender and trim the coal." Chloe said, as she grabbed a shovel.
"Okay, let's go." Carrie said, as she too grabbed a shovel and stepped forward. After climbing onto the forward tender, they spent a few minutes making sure the coal was well spread out and that none would fall off the tender during their journey. They soon finished that job.
"Does that look okay to you, Chloe?" Carrie asked, as they survey their handiwork.
"Yeah, I'd say that looks good to me, Carrie. Now let's get these tenders filled up with water, and then we'll be able to head over to the station and collect our passengers." Chloe said, as she started for the ladder at the side of the tender.
"Will we have to fill the water tanks separately or…?" asked Carrie.
"Don't worry, Carrie. There are two water pipes that connect the water spaces in both tenders, and so when one tender is taking on water, the water level is also rising in the other tender." Chloe said, as she started down the ladder.
"Ah, I see. That's very clever." Carrie said, as she followed her down.
Soon, they had rolled down the line a few hundred feet to the water column, and both Chloe and Carrie were standing back on top of the first tender again. After having checked the water pipe connections between the two tenders earlier on, the crane arm was swung over the open lid and the pipe put inside. Then, after calling out "Water on!" to Laura, who was standing by the valve on the ground, Laura opened up the valve, allowing water to flow into Flying Scotsman's water tanks. Considering the fact that the total water capacity of the two tenders was around 11,000 gallons, it did take a little time to be sure that both tender tanks were fully topped up with water.
But soon, both tanks were filled up to their full capacity, and Chloe called out "Water off!" to Laura, who turned the valve off, halting the flow of water.
"And there we are, Carrie…two full tenders!" Chloe said, as she removed the pipe from the open hole, and then closed the lid behind her. On the ground, Laura swung the crane arm inwards, as Chloe and Carrie climbed down from the top of the first tender.
"Right…now that's all done…let's go to the station and collect our passengers." Chloe said.
"Let's do it! We can't keep them waiting for much longer." Carrie said, as she, Chloe and Laura climbed back onto the footplate. With a loud blast of his whistle a few minutes later, Flying Scotsman rolled out of the yards and towards the station.
(At Vicarstown Station)
Standing at Platform 3 were Flying Scotsman's coaches, and there were 12 of them there. And each one had been polished to a very high standard, so that they would look smart for the passengers who were going to travel on them today. On the platform, there were a lot of people milling around, with some of them getting on the train and other standing around with their cameras in hand and waiting to see Flying Scotsman when he arrived in the station.
There was so much noise as people milled about, chatted, paced around, or sipped coffee while they waited.
Not only that, but the local press and photographers from a number of the newspapers on Sodor were also present, and waiting to get photos of Flying Scotsman on the first part of his trip to Sodor.
The clock above the platform showed the time as being 8:55am, and the train was scheduled to leave Vicarstown at 9:10am.
Then, as one of the photographers placed his empty coffee cup into one of the bins sitting on the platform, he looked up along the line.
"There he is, everyone!" he called out, as he raised his camera up. As everyone turned their heads to see, many of them cheered out loudly when they saw, and heard, No.4472 Flying Scotsman slowly reverse with his support coach towards the station. With a loud blast from his whistle as he slowed down, Flying Scotsman very gently buffered up his support coach to the first coach in the train. As the first coach in the train was very near the end of the platform, both Flying Scotsman and most of his support coach stuck out from the end of the platform which meant those who wanted to get photographs were unable to get pictures of the world's most famous steam locomotive, or his crew.
On the footplate of Flying Scotsman, as they waited for the time to set off, Chloe took the chance to show Carrie along the two corridor tenders and the support coach.
"Follow me this way, Carrie." Chloe said, as she opened a narrow door on the front right of the tender that was coupled behind Flying Scotsman, and went into the corridor, with Carrie following along behind.
"Wow, it's a bit on the narrow side in here." Carrie said, as she followed along behind.
"I know, but it's only meant to be used to change crews over, and so you're not meant to stay for very long in a place like this." Chloe said, as they reached the end of the tender and then went into the corridor of the second one. Reaching the end, they stepped through into the front of the support coach, and Chloe showed Carrie around the coach. It had living quarters for the support crew with kitchen and toilet facilities, as well as a special workshop space at the other end of the coach where all the spare parts, tools, and other things that might be needed for a locomotive. Carrie also met the other four members of Flying Scotsman's support crew, including the traction inspector, who were all pleased to have Carrie with them on the trip to Knapford. Afterwards, Chloe and Carrie went back through the two corridor tenders and onto the footplate of Flying Scotsman.
(A little while later)
It wasn't long before the last of the passengers had boarded the coaches, and the doors were closed on all the coaches. With the signalman having set the points and set the signal to show the line was clear, it was time for them to be on their way. With the time on the platform clock showing the time as 9:10am, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, and then quickly stepped aboard the coach coupled behind the support coach. Laura blew the whistle on Flying Scotsman and opened the regulator a little.
"Here we go! Knapford, here we come!" Flying Scotsman said, as his wheels dug into the rails and he slowly took up the load of his heavy train and moved out of the station. A few of those people who were on the platform, as well as men who were standing by the side of the line, waved and cheered out as they watched Flying Scotsman set off on his way. It was an incredible sight to see.
From the left-hand side of the cab, which was the driver's side, Carrie leaned out as they pulled away from Vicarstown Station, and watched as the coaches rolled out from the platform one by one.
"They're following along nicely back here!" Carrie said, as she pulled herself back into the cab.
"Okay, Carrie! We're going to be going along the High-Speed Line which skirts much of the southern coast of Sodor. There we'll be able to really open the taps and show you what Flying Scotsman here can really do!" Laura said.
"Looking forward to it!" Carrie said, as she went over and sat down in the padded bucket seat on the fireman's side of the cab. Leaning her arm on the windowsill, Carrie leaned her head out a little as they moved out along the line and towards the junction that would take them along the High-Speed Line.
After a few minutes, they were on the High-Speed line from where they would be able to pick up speed and get the passengers to Knapford in good time.
"Come on, Scotty! Let's see how you can run with your train!" Laura called from the cab, as she opened the regulator more and wound back on the reversing gear.
"Okay, Laura! I'm ready when you are!" Flying Scotsman called, as he began to pick up speed on the tracks. His wheels turned faster and faster as more power was applied, and Laura blew his whistle long and loud for several moments, while Chloe, shovel in hand, stoked the boiler with fresh coal. Carrie, still sitting in the fireman's seat, was already really enjoying the ride, due to the fact she had a really big smile on her face and couldn't help but giggle as they surged along the line, gaining speed all the time.
By the time they were going along the stretch of line that went past Norramby and the estuary there, they were already going along at about 70mph, with the coaches following along nicely behind them. Aboard them, the passengers, most of whom were railway enthusiasts, were really enjoying the smooth ride they were experiencing. Quite a few of them were chatting with each other about what they'd done to get here, as well as about times they had travelled behind Flying Scotsman before.
As the enthusiasts chatted with each other, the coach attendants were already beginning the on-board service, and were soon serving out a good selection of refreshments, including hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, as well as a various selection of snacks, to the hungry customers on the train.
Then, there came the sounds of buzzing from somewhere close by, and it was getting closer and closer to the train all the time. Looking out, many people could see it was none other than Harold the Helicopter, and from an open door on his side, a man with a camera could be seen. It was quite obvious that this man was recording the sight of Flying Scotsman as he went along the High-Speed line towards the western side of the island. Despite the speed the train was going at, Harold was able to keep pace with them, and allow the man with his camera to record the train as it went along.
From the footplate, Carrie looked out and up when she heard the sounds of the buzzing come closer to them.
"We got company, you two!" she said, as she turned to Chloe and Laura.
"Yeah, I thought it was too good to be true, Carrie!" Chloe said, as she too looked up at Harold as he kept pace with them.
"If that whirlybird wants to have a race, I think we should give him one!" Flying Scotsman said, annoyed that his smooth run was being disturbed.
"I agree! Faster, Scotty! Faster!" Laura said, as she opened the regulator more and wound the reverser back towards mid-gear. Reaching above her, she pulled on the whistle handle, and the sound of the whistle sounded long and loud.
(Insert soundtrack – Gordon's Season 1 Theme)
Slowly, Flying Scotsman built up more and more speed, and he surged on down the line until they reached 90mph, which was the maximum limit for this line. Keeping as close to that speed as they could, they certainly were giving Harold a run for his money as he was struggling to keep up with them.
"I think you're doing a good job of giving that helicopter a run for his money, Scotty! Keep it up and we'll be home in no time!" Carrie called, as she leaned out a little.
"Thanks, Carrie!" Flying Scotsman called, as he kept his pace up. For him, this speed was a clear reminder of the fast speeds that he would sometimes touch and exceed back in the day on the L.N.E.R. on long trips from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley.
Back in the train, the passengers were amazed by the speed they were going at, and some of them were impressed that Flying Scotsman was able to keep pace with a helicopter.
Taking a go at the shovel, Carrie was able to get plenty of fresh coal into the firebox, despite the firehole door being slightly small and with a flap to control the admission of air into the firebox. By now, Carrie's stamina was at a level where she was able to move large shovelfuls of coal into the hot firebox to keep the fire burning to a white-hot level, which would help to make the steam they needed to keep moving along at this speed.
Going along, another train came into view ahead of them and then went on past them on the down line heading in the opposite direction; it was a long, fast fitted freight train being hauled by B.R. Standard 9F No.92276, which was one of the 9F class that was fitted with British Caprotti valve gear in place of Walschaerts gear, and with a double chimney with a Kylchap exhaust fitted in the chimney.
"Good morning there!" he called with a loud blast of his whistle, as he watched Flying Scotsman go on by with his train.
"Good morning to you too!" Flying Scotsman called, as he also blew his own whistle in response, before he sped on by with his own train.
As they sped along, Harold was just able to keep pace with Flying Scotsman as the man filming out the open side door recorded everything going on. He was a dedicated railway enthusiast and cameraman for a Sodor news channel, and had been assigned by the channel to record Flying Scotsman's run so clips could be used in the news reports that would be broadcast on the T.V. that evening.
From the footplate of Flying Scotsman, Carrie was helping to stoke the boiler, and at the same time she was also keeping a close eye on the two water gauge glasses to make sure that the water level in the boiler was okay, as well as keeping a close watch on the main steam pressure gauge to make sure the indicator arrow within the gauge was being kept as close as possible to the maximum working pressure of 250psi.
Going along at 90mph, it wasn't too long before they got very near to the stretch of line that went past the western side of the airport, at which point Harold's pilot turned him away due to the restricted airspace around the airport. As they watched Harold turn away and fly off over the sea, and the buzzing sound got fainter and fainter, those who were on the train turned back to what they had been doing before they saw the big white whirlybird arrived and began to keep pace with them.
From the footplate, as Laura closed the regulator most of the way and then put on the brakes to slow the train down, Carrie and then Chloe looked out as Harold flew away off to the west south west over Brendam Bay, they were somewhat relieved that they wouldn't have a constant buzzing noise with them as they went along.
"Well done there, Scotty! I think we gave that whirlybird a good run for his money!" Laura called, as she leaned her head out of the cab a little.
"Oh, it was nothing, Laura! After all, it felt quite nice to be driven quite fast again…just like the old days!" Flying Scotsman called, as he slowed down until he was going along at about 40mph. Ahead of them was the junction that connected the High-Speed Line to the Southern Main Line, which meant they were on their final leg of their journey to Knapford.
After joining up onto the Southern Main Line, they made their way along the line towards Knapford, passing by station platforms, open fields, and roads close to the side of the line, where countless numbers of people stood and waved madly as Flying Scotsman went on past with his train, and with the famous L.N.E.R. apple green A3 often sounding his whistle loudly in greeting as he did so.
After passing by many familiar Sodor landmarks, including Maron Station, going down Gordon's Hill, past the junction for Brendam Docks, through Wellsworth Station, going on over the viaduct, through Crosby, past Elsbridge Station, and then through Henry's Tunnel, they finally arrived at their final destination; Knapford Station.
Rolling along past the junction for the Ffarquhar Branch, Flying Scotsman rolled round the bend and along the final stretch to the station. Looking out from the fireman's side of the cab, Carrie could see there was quite a welcome waiting for them at the platform ahead; there were many press photographers about, as were many enthusiasts all eager to see the world's most famous steam locomotive arrive. Standing on some of the lines going through the station were some of the other engines, and Carrie could clearly see Gordon standing at the end of Platform 1. Gordon had a smile on his face, obviously pleased to see his brother arrive.
With a short blast of his whistle, and with a low squealing sound from his brakes, Flying Scotsman came to a gentle stop at Platform 2.
"Well, there we are…we've made it here…safe and sound!" Laura said with a smile on her face, as she turned to Chloe and Carrie.
"And bang on time too!" Chloe said, as she looked at her watch. "It's 10:00am on the dot!"
"What a run that was! What a run!" Carrie said, as she smiled broadly. It had been a very good run, with the high speeds achieved and the smooth running all the way from one side of the island to the other, and happy faces on the passengers.
As the passengers disembarked from the coaches, many of them, along with many of the press photographers, made their way up to the cab, and the three girls who were standing on the footplate were only too happy to pose for pictures, speak with some of the people gathered around, and sign autographs on whatever the people handed them. Quite a few people were really surprised to see that Flying Scotsman had had an all-female crew taking him on his run to Knapford.
Gradually, the crowds around the cab slowly thinned out as people went on their way, going over the footbridge and out of the station. As the crowds thinned out, another person came up to the footplate, and it was none other than the Fat Controller himself.
"Hello there, and welcome to Sodor!" he said, as he looked inside the footplate.
"Oh hello, sir! It's really nice to be here on Sodor!" Laura said, as she shook the Fat Controller's hand.
"We had a really good run on the way over here, and I think we really impressed everyone who saw us today!" Chloe said, as she then shook the Fat Controller's hand.
"That's very good…" said the Fat Controller, as he then turned his attention to Carrie, "…and Carrie, did you enjoy the surprise I arranged for you?"
"Yes sir, I did. And thanks very much for it, sir. I never expected to travel with an engine as famous as Flying Scotsman." Carrie said, with a big smile on her face.
"Well, your father, and quite a few others, did mention to me that you've been doing quite a good job ever since you started on the apprenticeship scheme, and so as a special treat, I thought this would be a good way of thanking you for the work you've done so far." said the Fat Controller, with a smile on his face.
"And I really do appreciate it, sir. And I do mean it, thank you, sir." Carrie said.
"You're more than welcome, Carrie. Now, get yourselves over to Tidmouth Sheds and get yourselves rested. Carrie…the yard manager there will assign you to another engine once you're there." said the Fat Controller.
"Yes, sir." Carrie said.
"Okay, let's be on our way then!" Laura said, as she readjusted the controls ready to go.
By now, a shunter had already uncoupled the support coach from the rest of the coaches in the train and had disconnected the brake pipes too. After telling Laura that the train was uncoupled, the shunter went off to his next job. A moment later, with the line ahead clear, the signal dropped and showed its green light. Acknowledging this, Laura blew the whistle and then opened the regulator again. Slowly, and with a cloud of steam shooting out from the front, Flying Scotsman moved out from the platform and over towards Tidmouth Sheds. From the platforms, those who had seen Flying Scotsman arrive watched as he set off to the sheds with his support coach following along behind him.
(A little later; Tidmouth Sheds)
With a loud blast of his whistle, Flying Scotsman slowly rolled in reverse into one of the long sidings at Tidmouth Sheds, with his support coach still coupled behind him. With Laura pulled on the brake lever, the brakes came on and brought him to a halt.
"And there we are, safe and sound!" Laura said, as she readjusted the controls.
"I'll be glad of a break after this morning's run!" Chloe said, as she checked the fire. For her part, Carrie was just pleased that they had experienced a very good run, and that they had brought smiles to the faces of many people who had been lucky enough to see and travel behind Flying Scotsman on his run from Vicarstown. But now, she was wondering which engine she was going to be assigned to for the rest of the day.
After stepping off the footplate and bidding a goodbye and thanks to Laura and Chloe, Carrie stepped around to the front of Flying Scotsman so that she was looking up at the famous engine.
"Thanks for letting me have a ride on you, Flying Scotsman." Carrie said.
"Oh, it's no trouble at all, Carrie. I'm glad to see you had a great time out there today." said the famous Gresley A3 as he smiled down at Carrie. But then, the yard manager appeared from his office nearby.
"Carrie?" he asked, as he looked up from his clipboard.
"Yes, sir?" Carrie said, as she looked over at him.
"Good…please come along, I've got your next engine assigned for you to work with for the rest of the day." said the yard manager.
"Okay, sir." Carrie said, as she then turned to look back up at Flying Scotsman. "I'd best be off, Scotty. I'll see you around, and hopefully we'll get the chance to work with each other again." Carrie said, as she walked away.
"Let's hope we will, Carrie! And best of luck with who you're working with today!" Flying Scotsman said, as he watched Carrie turn and walk away.
"Thank you!" Carrie said, as she walked away with the yard manager. She couldn't wait to tell her father and all her friends about it later on in the day when she saw them again.
(Later that day; time 5:15pm)
Feeling tired after a long day of work, and still feeling very proud from having been given the chance to ride on Flying Scotsman's footplate that morning, Carrie grabbed her things and stepped off the footplate of Stanier Class 5 2-6-0 No.42948 having just arrived back at Tidmouth motive power depot a short while before. Even though she made spent the much of the late morning and all the afternoon working on the footplate of a small mixed-traffic engine, where they were worked on moving freight along the lines that ran along the north-western side of the Island of Sodor, Carrie was still feeling pleased with herself to have gone on Flying Scotsman earlier on in the morning; after all, it had simply made her day.
As she made her way over to the crew building where she planned to have a shower and change into clean clothes, she looked over towards the main sheds off to her left and saw a lot of activity going on over there; she could clearly see that Flying Scotsman was standing within one of the lines with Gordon standing beside him, and that the two brothers were chatting away, though she couldn't hear what was being said between them. There were quite a few photographers and railway enthusiasts around there as well and getting photos of the two engines, and there appeared to be quite a few engine crews, as well as some of the recruits on the apprenticeship scheme having a look at Flying Scotsman as well. At the same time, Carrie could also see that a few of the other engines were gathered together on the lines in and around the sheds too; she could clearly see Henry, James, Thomas, and the Scottish Twins Donald and Douglas there as well, and they seemed just as excited by the fact that Flying Scotsman had come to visit.
Feeling herself smile at all the activity going on before her, but not wanting to get in there now after a long day of work, Carrie made her way into the crew building and then upstairs to the ladies changing room.
After arriving in the changing room, she went and had a long hot shower, and allowed the hot water to flow all over her while she rubbed shampoo into her hair as well as all around her body. Feeling tired after a long day, she was grateful to allow the hot water to relax her tired muscles for a few minutes as she scrubbed herself clean. Finishing up in the shower, she wrapped herself in soft clean white towels and went to dry off and change.
A few minutes later, having changed into fresh clothes, Carrie grabbed her things and left the ladies changing room, before making her way downstairs. After clocking out for the day, she went and stepped outside the main entrance to the building, where she saw some of her friends, including Simon, as well as her father standing around and chatting with each other, with much of the talk between them, no doubt, being about the arrival of Flying Scotsman.
"Hi there, Carrie!" Sophie said, when she saw Carrie approach them.
"Hey there!" Carrie said, as she approached the group of people.
"Have you heard about the arrival of Flying Scotsman, Carrie?" Simon asked in some excitement.
"Yes, in fact, I actually got to travel on the footplate of Flying Scotsman this morning, when we went from Vicarstown to Knapford with our morning train." Carrie said, with a big smile on her face. And upon her revealing that, everyone in the group looked at her in astonishment.
"You actually got to travel on Flying Scotsman this morning?!" Alice said, in amazement.
"Yeah, I did. And it was just incredible too!" Carrie said.
"Well, you'll have to tell us all about it!" Saoirse said.
"I will. Come on, let's go and get dinner and I'll tell you about it there." Carrie said, and so they all went off to a nearby restaurant where they would get a good dinner after a day of hard work on the railway.
(Later that evening, time 9:15pm, the White Residence)
Ralph and Carrie were sitting together in the living room, and watching the evening news about all that was going on in the world. But so far, there had been nothing shown yet about the Flying Scotsman coming to Sodor. During dinner earlier on, Carrie had mentioned to everyone that Harold the Helicopter had flown alongside Flying Scotsman earlier that day with a cameraman filming from one of his open doors, which she had suspected was something to do with the news.
"I'm surprised it's not on yet." Carrie said, with some frustration in her voice as she watched what was going on on the TV screen before her.
"Just give it a little time, Carrie. I'm sure that it'll be on." Ralph said, with some reassurance in his voice.
A few more minutes went by, before the announcer on the news said "And now, a special report for you all...the arrival of the Flying Scotsman on the Island of Sodor, as seen from this footage captured earlier on today..." but Ralph and Carrie never heard the rest of the report, as right before them was footage recorded from Harold of Flying Scotsman going at speed along the High-Speed line that morning. It was a remarkable sight, to see the L.N.E.R. apple green Gresley A3 Pacific with his two tenders running at speed along the line with his train following along behind him. For Carrie, she felt herself smile when she saw it before her, as she knew she had been on the footplate of Flying Scotsman when that footage was taken.
For Ralph White, he was very pleased to see the world's most famous steam locomotive visit Sodor, and was very happy for his daughter for the experience that she had gone through that morning.
"You must be very pleased with yourself, Carrie." Ralph said, as he looked towards his daughter.
"I am, dad. I am, very much." Carrie said, as she turned to look at her father, with a smile still on her face.
And there we have it, everyone! That's it for this chapter! Let me be clear...this won't be the only chapter where Flying Scotsman plays a role in this story, as I am planning to bring in a few more with him in it as the story goes on. But for now, this will only be the start. I hope to have the next two chapters uploaded as soon as I possibly can. Until next time!