Flying Scotsman sets off from London to York Guardian

Flying Scotsman grinds to halt on inaugural run due to 'mindless' trespassers

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East coast main line and iconic steam train forced to stop during London-York journey due to fans taking pictures from tracks

After a 10-year refit costing £4.2m and meticulous preparation, Flying Scotsman’s much-anticipated return to the track was briefly halted by an unforeseen obstacle – overexcited fans.

As the world-famous locomotive travelled from London to York on Thursday for the inaugural journey since its hiatus, its progress was rudely interrupted by dozens of hardy steam enthusiasts standing on the line to try to photograph the national treasure.

Rail magazine editor, Nigel Harris, who was on the train, described a “big brake” before Flying Scotsman came to a “shuddering stop” near St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

Footage filmed from the stationary train showed people walking down the line holding cameras. Other trains were also affected with Virgin reporting delays of 15 minutes on the east coast mainline.

We've had to stop all trains on the East Coast Main Line incl. #FlyingScotsman because of huge number of trespassers. Please, don't.
— Network Rail press (@networkrailPR) February 25, 2016

British Transport police, who were called shortly after 9am to reports of around 60 people on the line, were forced to issue a warning of the potential consequences of trespassing on the line, while acknowledging “people are excited about the Flying Scotsman’s return”. There was a similar plea from Network Rail, but Harris did not mince his words, describing the incident as “rampant trespass by mindless hordes”. No arrests were made.

Locomotive 60103 was held up for 10 minutes before resuming at a reduced speed and it eventually chugged into York station to a rapturous reception at 1.20pm, about 40 minutes behind schedule.

The crowds at York mirrored those seen for the train’s 7.40am departure from London’s King’s Cross, which covered platform one in steam, and where hundreds of people arrived from 6am to secure a vantage point.

Flying Scotsman leaves King’s Cross station in London after a £4.2m restoration. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Some 297 VIPs, fundraisers, competition winners and members of the public who paid up to £450 were on board for the trip, many struggling to contain their excitement.

Among them was Ron Kennedy, who drove Flying Scotsman from 1956 until it was retired in 1963. The 83-year-old, from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, beamed with delight as the locomotive pulled into the station he first worked at as a cleaner almost 70 years ago. “It’s unbelievable. I never dreamt about being on it again. To be out with it is just fantastic,” he said. “It was a good engine.”

Fellow passenger Tony Hey, 70, said: “This is a totally different experience. Electric trains are all the same!”

Sitting on plush burgundy-red velvet seats behind white tablecloths, passengers ate porridge, sipped tea and drank champagne.

The train was painted in the traditional early 1960s British Rail green for its first official outing after the restoration project, and staff wore matching uniforms.

Flying Scotsman hauled a train full of VIPs on its first London-to-York run since the restoration was complete. Photograph: Toby Smith/Getty Images

Built in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, in 1923, Flying Scotsman soon became the star locomotive of the British railway system, pulling the first officially recorded train to break the 100mph barrier in 1934. It was also the first to link London to Edinburgh – the route which gave it its name - in a single journey, then the longest non-stop rail journey ever achieved.

Michael Portillo, who was travelling on the train as part of filming for BBC documentary series Great British Railway Journeys, said: “This is certainly the most famous journey and most famous locomotive in Britain.”

He described Flying Scotsman as an engineering triumph and praised its designer, Nigel Gresley, for having “an eye for engineering, for design, for style and for marketing”.

The National Railway Museum in York bought the locomotive for £2.3m in 2004, with the help of funds donated by the public, before work got under way on its restoration in 2006.

Flying Scotsman passes over the Digswell Viaduct near Welwyn Garden City. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Flying Scotsman enjoyed 40 years of service before it was bought by the industrialist Alan Pegler, who transported it across the Atlantic in 1969 to pull tourist trains on the west coast of the United States.

But the venture was not a success. Pegler was forced into bankruptcy and the train was stranded in the US. William McAlpine heard about its plight and his rescue plan enabled it to be brought back to Britain in 1973, where it passed through the hands of several owners before it was eventually saved for the nation.

The National Railway Museum’s director, Paul Kirkman, said Flying Scotsman was a reminder that “railways have been making this country run properly for nearly 200 years”. He described the restoration project as a “long old journey” but said it was incredibly satisfying to see the locomotive returned to service.