The Return of Flying Scotsman

Flying Scotsman.

For ten years it's been away,

undergoing a painstaking £4 million rebuild.

Massive relief. There have been times when you think we'll never finish it.

For us to work on it, it's quite a privilege.

Dirty, but a privilege.

The National Railway Museum celebrates with an emotional return

to the main line and Scotsman speeding home to York.

She's running like a sewing machine. She's perfect.

The engine's over 90 now.

Since Scotsman came to life in 1923

in a South Yorkshire engineering shed,

this machine has become the stuff of legends.

It's been a celebrity locomotive more than any other locomotive

that's ever been constructed in this country.

The first engine to officially clock 100mph.

Speed. Power. Beauty.

The first locomotive to run

a regular nonstop passenger service from London to Edinburgh.

That's history.

From 1963, a string of private owners kept Scotsman alive.

I'm not buying it for me, I'm buying it for Britain.

And its fame took it round the world.

-TV:

-The locomotive has arrived in Australia,

lashed to the deck of cargo ship.

In 2004, with the help of countless generous donations,

the National Railway Museum acquired the weary locomotive for the nation

and they vowed to return the engine to its former glory.

We had to finish it, we had to put it back out,

and it had to be as good as it possibly could be.

Now Scotsman's back on track.

The legend lives on.

-TANNOY:

-Flying Scotsman is due into the station shortly.

Early January, and the press are gathering at Bury Station

on the East Lancashire Railway.

Like everyone else, they're clamouring to catch a first glimpse

of the world's favourite engine after a ten-year absence.

It'll undertake trial runs on this heritage line

before, if all goes well, returning to main-line service.

The engine's custodians, the National Railway Museum,

are planning a celebratory run from King's Cross to York.

But before that, it has to prove itself fit enough to make the distance.

It's been a long time away.

The Flying Scotsman has travelled many millions of miles

since it was built in 1923.

It was very, very worn out.

And whilst you can patch and mend a steam locomotive,

there comes a point when you have to literally strip it down

to every nut, bolt and rivet.

The boiler has been completely refurbished,

it's the 18th boiler that Flying Scotsman's had in its history.

The frames have been stripped down and it was discovered

that part of the frames were damaged,

so they had to replace the front third of the frames.

So this all had to be manufactured and assembled

and lots of testing to make sure that everything is as it should be.

The engineers step forward to take a bow.

It's been a long haul to bring Flying Scotsman back to life.

They've lavished care and attention

on every single part of this grand old lady of steam.

It's probably the most extensive restoration of any steam locomotive

that's been carried out to date.

The engine was very worn

when the National Railway Museum took ownership of it

and basically all the working parts have been renewed.

For steam enthusiasts,

these are sights and sounds that stir the blood.

I'm a grown man and I didn't sleep very well last night,

such was my excitement.

And I think it creates that kind of excitement.

I was very tearful when it pulled into the station this morning,

to see such a great locomotive back.

We've not seen her for ten years,

so we've been starved of this great locomotive

and I think there's just so much anticipation

to see it back on our UK rails again.

Speed, power, beauty.

The press have had their sneak preview.

Tomorrow, the public will get their chance

to ride behind this national treasure.

4.15 on a bitterly cold Lancashire morning.

In the yard of Locomotive Engineers Riley and Son,

they're firing up the engines for the first of two busy weekends

on the East Lancashire Railway.

Wheels and bearings drink oil straight from the can.

You can tell it's cold, the oil's crawling out of the bottle.

It's Jack Johnson's job to put fire in Scotsman's belly.

At just 18, he's one of the country's youngest main-line firemen,

and there's nowhere else he'd rather be.

Once you've got that steam bug, you've got it.

And this is the icing on the cake, firing the Flying Scotsman.

To fire it on the main line and to fire it here,

it's like a childhood dream - that's what I've always wanted to do.

It's actually back after ten years and it's living again.

It doesn't deserve to be in a museum,

it deserves to be out there where everyone can see it.

I can't wait to get this thing out on the main line.

It's a beast.

It's sometimes felt like Scotsman's been dragged

kicking and screaming back onto the line.

It's been very stubborn, this engine.

When I first started back here about a year and a half ago, it was just

a scattered piece of parts all over the floor like a big jigsaw puzzle.

We've had to cut the whole entire front end off

and replace the cylinders and set the frames up

literally down to thousandths of an inch to keep everything straight and in line,

it's been very complicated and had to go through a lot of procedures

and engineering certification to get it to that point.

With such a radical overhaul, some wonder whether

much of the original 1923 Scotsman has actually survived.

The last three-quarters of the frames are definitely original

and the wheels are all original and the side rods

and a lot of the parts we've been working on and cleaning up

have still had the original stamp numbers on it.

The majority of it's original

and the most important thing is its soul is original.

No matter how many pieces of material you change in a locomotive

it'll always be that engine.

The steam locomotive, in particular, is a piece of metal,

various different forms, ferrous and non-ferrous,

but when you put a fire in it, it comes to life

and it just takes on a whole different nature.

There's a nagging problem with the brakes, so to be safe,

they run a second engine on every train, just to assist.

And with every mile that Scotsman chalks up,

there's a growing confidence.

-TANNOY:

-The 11.30 Flying Scotsman service to Rawtenstall...

As the passenger trials begin,

every platform on the East Lancashire Railway is packed.

Fantastic. Tremendous.

Earth-shattering for us.

But to see it actually appear, there have been tears in the eye.

We expected a lot of people to come,

but we didn't expect the numbers that have actually appeared.

Look over there.

We expect over 20,000, 25,000 passengers

to have been on the railway over these two weekends.

To put that into context, we carried about 160,000 passengers last year.

This engine seems to cast a spell on people.

One of the most treasured Scotsman souvenirs

is a piece of coal from the tender.

-It's a bit dirty.

-No problem, sir, thank you.

-50 pence.

Give him that big bit.

BLOWS WHISTLE

Stay back!

-Stand back from the train!

-Stand back, sir!

The restoration has called on old skills

to breathe new life into the engine.

The loco was not in great condition when we got it,

so it's taken a lot of engineering challenges

to get it back up to the standards it needs to be.

Some of the problems are, nowadays, you know, the engineering techniques

used back in the olden days aren't available any more,

so it's difficult to find places

that make the components that you need.

We have got engineering centres like Ian Riley and Son Engineering,

who've done the work on this that are training up apprentices

and, you know, keeping those skills alive.

And this small Lancashire engineering company is now building

an international reputation in steam expertise.

We overhaul steam locomotives for people

all over the world, really, from the smallest component

to complete locomotives like Flying Scotsman.

I think this is the biggest contract we've ever done,

and if everything goes all right,

I think it'll be the best one we've ever done.

There's only two or three companies left in the United Kingdom

that can carry out this kind of work...

Riley's being the best, of course!

Every seat on every train was sold out weeks in advance.

And whatever their age,

everyone seems to feel the same about this glorious engine.

It's brilliant, it's a legend is the Flying Scotsman. Everybody loves it.

Those other great icons of British technology and transport,

like Concorde and the Queen Mary, they no longer operate

and you can no longer travel on them.

You can travel behind the Flying Scotsman

and that is so important to us.

There was a train line always went past the park I used to play in,

football, there was always steam trains.

Used to stop playing football to go and watch the train go past.

Hang on, where are we going now?

Oh, flippin' Nora, we're in another tunnel!

When I was in my teens, all my friends had

pictures of Elvis Presley on their bedroom wall.

I had a huge poster of the Flying Scotsman,

and so to be on it today is incredible.

It was the spaceship of its day.

It broke the 100-mile record.

And that's, you know, that's history.

The passenger trials are a runaway success.

But in the excitement,

none of the crew forget exactly why they're doing this.

In the age of computers and iPads and tablets,

you need to have some sort of tangible machine

so that people can see, and the young kids can see.

This engine will still be running, I hope, well after I'm gone.

And it was running, you know, well before I was even thought about.

So, it's important to keep history and the nation's heritage alive,

for everyone, really.

Over the years, the engine has appeared

in several different liveries,

perhaps most familiar in apple green, sporting the number 4472.

Soon, Scotsman will be painted green again, but before that,

the engine will have to prove itself fit to run on the main line.

Early February, and Scotsman is finally starting those main-line trials.

It's pulling some lucky excursion passengers up the steep inclines

from Lancashire to Cumbria...

..and then returning on the scenic Settle-Carlisle line.

It's crucial the engine performs well today,

with less than three weeks to go before the planned inaugural run.

Veteran driver Ron Smith can finally let the thoroughbred stretch its legs,

aiming to clock up the maximum allowed - 75mph.

It's starting to feel a lot like the old days.

In its heyday, the Flying Scotsman was the very height of glamour.

Passengers enjoyed first-class service and all the mod cons -

a dining car, a cocktail lounge, even a hairdressing salon.

Today's Cumbrian Mountain Express offers a glimpse of what rail travel

must have been like three generations ago.

It's less of a picnic by the trackside.

Hundreds of steam enthusiasts line the route,

frozen to the bone, but glued to the view.

You can't believe the amount of people that are standing

watching the train come along.

They must have been standing there for hours, some of them.

Every field seems to have about ten people in it,

even though it's a cold, wet day in February.

Why would you stand in a field for half an hour

with a four-year-old child under your umbrella?

You're trying to get a glimpse

of this past that created the world we live in now.

At Carlisle, some have been waiting for hours

to see Scotsman glide into platform 3.

It's a reminder of what a draw this black beast can still be.

You've only got to see all the people

that were at Carlisle when we ran in.

I've never seen Carlisle like that, ever,

and we've been into Carlisle with some good engines over the years.

But I got the shock of my life when I approached Carlisle.

So that tells you the interest that is there.

So what it's going to be like on its inaugural run, I do not know.

Ron's spent his life around steam engines, it's in his family's blood.

WHISTLE BLOWS

He started his career while Scotsman was still in service

and it's not the first time their paths have crossed.

I've been on the footplate since 1961, July.

And, actually, I did work on this engine in '62,

before she went out of traffic in '63.

And my father and my grandfather were both drivers,

all on the same engine, worked on it,

so three of us have now worked on this engine.

My father always thought A3s were better than anything, really.

In fact, it's a shame he still isn't here

because he'd be quite impressed, you know.

Yeah, very proud.

Bit choked, actually.

The engine's heading south now, towards the Yorkshire Dales,

on the beautiful Settle-Carlisle line.

Before heading over the Ribblehead Viaduct,

there's a stop for water at Appleby.

It's a chance for the engine to take a breather

and the crew to take stock.

Today, it's been exceptional.

In fact, the engine... Well, it is new, it's virtually new,

and she's rode just like a Rolls-Royce

coming down the bank at 75mph.

Everything we could have hoped for, you know,

the engine's performed faultlessly, really.

You know, we got up to 75mph on the West Coast Main Line,

which is brilliant, you know, it's kind of the culmination

of ten years of hard work by a lot of people.

I've not heard a Pacific sound like this does at the front end

because she were absolutely just sharp and clear, you know,

so the valves are absolutely... They're set perfectly.

There's lots of really lovely engines out there

that run on this line, you know, at speed.

But Scotsman evokes memories in a way those don't.

That means that what we've got on the front of us,

blowing all this smoke past the window, is a memory machine.

If you could have a penny for everybody who watched her,

and everybody who took a photograph,

you could afford to overhaul her, you know, once every two years.

Sir William McAlpine knows all about overhauls.

He footed the bill for two of them

during the 23 years he owned Scotsman.

Sir William bought the engine

from the previous owner, Alan Pegler, in 1973,

rescuing it from San Francisco, where it had ground to a halt

at the end of an ill-fated tour of the States.

It was an unexpected chance to save Scotsman,

having to make his mind up straightaway

or risk the engine never returning.

It was wham-bang, you know.

If you want this locomotive, say yes tomorrow.

I had the money, I had the opportunity

and there wasn't any time.

It had to be... It was an instant decision.

But I thought, "Well, you know, here's a true British icon

"and I'm not buying it for me, I'm buying it for Britain,"

and so I said yes.

I never really felt I owned the engine.

I'll be going along and I'm sitting in the fireman's seat

and I'm wondering what on earth am I doing here?

You know, I own this engine, I actually own it,

but I don't feel I own it.

I feel I've just got it in trust for the nation.

She gave so much pleasure to so many people,

and that was a wonderful feeling.

Not everyone has a full-sized railway in their back garden,

but Sir William does.

It's a love of railways that's coloured his life,

something he believes he shares with the great British public.

Of course, we did invent them and if we hadn't had railways,

we couldn't have an Industrial Revolution.

Didn't have an Industrial Revolution we'd have never had an empire.

So, I mean, we owe a lot to railways

and if you can rescue some of these things,

it's a wonderful thing to do.

PEACOCK CALLS

Definitely look back with fondness, I mean, I love her.

And it's wonderful to be able to enjoy her

without having the responsibility of paying the bills!

Even with the constraints of the modern world,

I hope she can continue running for a long, long time.

TOOLS WHIR

A week to go to the inaugural run.

Scotsman's mechanically sound and she's being pampered and preened

before tackling the busy main line between King's Cross and York.

We're in good shape. I mean, we've proved the engine now,

you know, it's done 1,000 miles,

got 1,000 miles under its belt

both on preserved railways

and now on the main line, too.

So we know that the engine does perform,

it can, you know, haul large trains over steep gradients

and now we're just looking forward to the run up from London.

They've brought in a team of craftsmen

to make the engine look its very best.

Scotsman will be painted in the livery she was in

when she left British Rail service in 1963.

It's a challenging job done in a very traditional way.

Everything is brush-painted that we do, no spray-painting involved.

It's all done by hand, it's all done just through hard graft.

It is a huge amount of materials we use - 20 litres of undercoat,

30 litres of gloss, 20 litres of varnish,

85 litres of white spirit, thinners.

Quite lot of work in that,

quite a lot of man-hours and a lot of labour.

Proud, very much. I think, you know,

we've done a lot of high-profile jobs in our time,

but this is the absolute icing on the cake.

This is the pinnacle of a career.

From this point, you can stand back

and, as a family, I can say to my kids, "We painted that."

We have painted the world's most famous locomotive.

Great engines like this should always be done the traditional way.

You get a greater sense of pride...

..doing it by hand.

To get it right and to get it looking...pristine

for when it goes on its inaugural journey, yeah,

this is special, this is...

Highlight of somebody's career, I would think.

Painting the Flying Scotsman?

There's not many people that have done that.

It gives a great sense of job satisfaction,

it's one of those things where not many people

can see the fruits of their labour.

There's still only

a handful of sign-writers that have ever done it...

..and I'm one.

Massive relief. Massive relief, yeah.

There have been times when you think we'll never finish it,

we'll never ever finish it, there has just been so many setbacks.

But now we are where we are and it's ready to go.

Battersea in London, on the eve of the inaugural run.

Belmond British Pullman is one of the few main-line depots

where Scotsman can be fed and watered.

It'll take on board five tonnes of coal

and almost 5,000 gallons of water.

The crew and engineers are exhausted

after working all hours to fix a broken spring

which nearly scuppered the celebration.

But they're here, ready...

and just a little nervous.

Some of the lads at the works have spent years on this engine

and it's really fought them all the way.

And then tomorrow, to see it out there, for them seeing that,

you know, it'll be a good feeling. It's good for us, good for everyone

to see it out there, doing what it's meant to do.

King's Cross.

The inaugural run has become a global media event...

Lovely to see you! How are you?

..with reporters and cameramen rubbing shoulders with passengers

and the great and the good.

It's been a long time since Scotsman graced the platforms here,

but slowly, she rolls in like she's never been away

and now the old girl's ready for her close-up.

It's the start of an epic 200-mile journey

which will need five hours and two footplate crews

to get the train to York.

HE BLOWS THE WHISTLE

Right, here we go.

TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS

There's hundreds here to see Flying Scotsman head home,

and there will be thousands more lining the route.

In the passenger carriages, men with sore hands and old skills

put their feet up and enjoy some well-earned first-class service.

It's the end of a ten-year struggle.

Cinderella didn't want to go to the ball,

but we were determined Cinderella was going, you know,

whether she were kicking her legs or not.

And here she is today.

She's running like a sewing machine.

That is it, you know - she's sweet, she sounds sweet,

everything's running at the right temperatures, she's perfect.

It's been an uphill challenge, but we're finally there.

The blood, the sweat, the tears,

it is physical blood, sweat and tears.

You know, you hurt yourself, you cut yourself, you bleed.

You have your head in your hands at some point, where you think,

"Oh, my God, we've got all this to do."

And it's given the engine a new lease of life, doing all that work.

Alan Pegler saved Scotsman from the breaker's yard in 1963.

Today's run is a poignant journey for his daughter.

It is absolutely wonderful, I just hope that my dad is looking down.

This is what he wanted, for people to go on enjoying the engine,

and the fact that it's going afterwards to the museum

is fantastic, because it'll be enjoyed now for generations to come

which is really what he wanted.

He would be very, very happy.

Through Doncaster now,

where Scotsman began life all those years ago,

a survivor against all the odds.

It was originally built in this country

and it was rebuilt in this country,

to retain the Flying Scotsman for ever and ever and ever.

York - journey's end and the warmest of Yorkshire welcomes.

TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS

OK. He's happy right where you are.

-TANNOY:

-Welcome to the Flying Scotsman. Welcome to York!

-Thank you very much.

-Cheers.

Thank you!

Well done, Jim.

Now it's just a short hop to the National Railway Museum.

APPLAUSE

Flying Scotsman is finally home.

Tiring, but we've made it, so we're very, very happy.

We've overcome the odds this week and got the engine ready

and got it up here on the front of the train,

so very relieved

but content and happy as well.