LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
Built: 1923
Retired: 1963
Built for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works, to a design of Sir Nigel Gresley, and employed on express trains on the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross to Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle-upon-Tyne or Edinburgh; commonly on the Flying Scotsman service, its namesake, from London to Edinburgh. In its career, the Flying Scotsman has travelled 2,000,000 miles (3,200,000 km). In 1934 it became the first British locomotive to be officially recorded at 100 miles per hour. After retirement the locomotive toured internationally. In Australia it set another record, travelling 442 miles from Parkes to Broken Hill non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded. In 2004 it was bought by the National Railway Museum in York. Flying Scotsman has been featured in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry. He visited the fictional Island of Sodor to see his only remaining brother, Gordon the Big Engine.