DUE to what train tour company Steam Dreams has declared to be ‘unprecedented demand’, the world-famous locomotive Flying Scotsman is to steam through South East Cornwall on an extra run during its visit to the Westcountry next month.
Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built at Doncaster works in 1923 for the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), the A1 class locomotive Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h) on 30 November 1934. It has been capturing the public imagination ever since, most recently following a multi-million-pound restoration by the National Railway Museum in York.
The previously announced morning trip behind the locomotive from Plymouth to Penzance on Saturday, October 6, is now fully sold out – but the good news is that today (Tuesday) tickets went on sale for an extra trip later in the day on October 6 from Plymouth to Par.
This not only means that those who missed out on the opportunity to buy tickets for Scotsman’s trip through Cornwall can now have another bit of the cherry, but also that people living near the mainline passing through Saltash, St Germans, Menheniot, Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway and Lostwithiel will have two opportunities to see the famous locomotive at speed that day.
Adding to the excitement for steam enthusiasts is that on these runs Flying Scotsman will be double-heading the train with another locomotive built to an LNER design, the B1 class engine Mayflower. Built by North British in 1948, this engine actually entered service just after the nationalised British Railways was created, though in preservation it has carried the apple green LNER livery formerly borne by some of its older classmates.
Mayflower has been chosen to join Scotsman on the Westcountry trips because its name ties in with Plymouth’s preparations to celebrate, in two years’ time, the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers’ voyage to America from the port on the ship Mayflower in 1620.
The steam engines’ visit to the region will also see Scotsman and Mayflower double-heading a trip from Taunton to Plymouth on Thursday, October 4 (some tickets still available at this time), and trips from Plymouth to Exeter, and from Exeter to Bristol on Monday, October 8 (again with tickets still available).
Four classes of ticket are available, from Premium Standard to Pullman Style Dining, together with various meal options, though with each booking travel is one way by steam and then return behind a diesel locomotive. For further details see www.SteamDreams.co.uk or call 01483 209888.