The National Railway Museum has released a statement regarding the maintenance contract of world-famous steam locomotive 60103 Flying Scotsman.
Currently, Riley and Sons (E) Ltd in Lancashire are contracted to maintain the locomotive when it is out on the mainline.
However, this contract runs out in December 2023, and the NRM says it is ‘considering’ the future of Flying Scotsman’s operation after this date.
The NRM have also told RailAdvent that Flying Scotsman will travel to Shildon later this month to be on display between the 16th December and 7th January, and after this date, the locomotive will remain in Shildon (though it will not be on display).
An NRM spokesperson said “The National Railway Museum is focused on the delivery of Flying Scotsman’s centenary celebrations which will conclude with a visit to Locomotion in Shildon between 16 December and 7 January.
“The current contract to maintain and operate Flying Scotsman runs until December 2023. After the success of Flying Scotsman’s centenary year, and the locomotive’s two popular visits to the NRM, the future operation of Flying Scotsman after this date is being carefully considered.
“Future arrangements will ensure people have the opportunity to see and experience one of the collection’s star objects and will conserve and safeguard the locomotive’s future. The National Railway Museum is committed to making Flying Scotsman as accessible to all and this includes building on the success it’s had in our museums in the centenary year and operating it up and down the country.”
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Responses
Hopefully the contract will be renewed with Riley’s.
Another option is the NYMR for the rest of its ticket. They know how to run an A4, so an A3 is no different.
Would be a real shame for LNER if Scotsman is retired, after the loss of No. 9 and the K4.
The only operational LNER engines are Scotsman, Gresley, P3, B1, and a Y shunter.
That’s 5 in total, whereas the GWR, LMS, SR and BR standards all have 20+ each operational.
Here’s expected return dates for other LNER overhauls/newbuilds:
– Blue Peter and Tornado in 2024
– Joem, K1, Q6 in 2025
– Prince of Wales in 2026
– B1, B17, and Bittern more like 2030
Look at what they have done to KGV. An anniversary means nothing to the NRM , if it did some sort of effort would have taken place to get her running on her anniversary, or is it just because she’s a GWR locomotive.
Science Museum has never liked the NRM…diff to manage as once upon a time specialist knowledge was essential. Care and maintenance is outsourced to private contractors with v mixed results. Oh for the want of a new great, late John Bellwood. As the modern often politicised curators degree replaces the need to know anything at all about a subject, with this instead a miracle of ‘interpretation’,s anything approximating to real knowledge seen as ‘elitist’.The museum sector is in real trouble, especially when stuff ‘disappearing’. For those in the know dealing with the big players often a nightmare, and they are really not that interested. Have met some who don’t want to be there, poorly paid and even actively hate the museum’s given subject.
Less we forget…A1 drawings were found in a skip at York….Boards on museums-blazer and tie brigade, as well as dressed appropriately ‘expert’ TV presenters (Nothing there, someone got lucky again for ten minute’s till forgotten like the bloke from the Halifax adds), ex-local government made redundant that now infests preservation; all carefully chosen to tick a box and not cause trouble . Ask a few v basic Q’s and you will see all arts degree, not one can use a lathe…or even a needle gun.
Would the recent Court case on the safety aspect of the carriages which it pulls have anything to do with this. If, for safety reasons it cannot carry as many passengers, then is it worth maintaining it and running it as they are currently doing?
Has there been any reports published regarding the recent reversing accident ??———Who was to blame and just exactly what damage occurred ??———How are those two people who were taken to hospital ??
With coal becoming a dirty fuel, especially in the eyes of the young, how long can steam locos go on. It would indeed be a sad day for us all if they became just museum pieces and I agree with the gentleman who said modern railways are rubbish.
We’ll always have running Steam Locomotives, they’re already developing various alternative fuels to run them on such as BioCoal, they say with BioCoal, they can replicate the smell of fossil coal, which thrills me to bits, as I love the smell of a coal fire.
I’m 32 and am a Steam Enthusiast, absolutely love them to bits, Steam Locomotives feel like like living things, I just Love everything about them, from how beautiful they are, to the gorgeous coal fire and oil smell, the sounds they make, seeing smoke/Steam coming out the chimney, and the character each one has, there simply isn’t any like a Steam locomotive.
I for one am very annoyed that they closed or are closing the last Coal Mine in Wales this month, that provided High quality, Low emission Steam Coal, it makes no sense at all to close a perfectly good mine in wales where the coal didn’t have to travel far to the UK, to then have to pay more money to import coal of similar quality from Canada or less efficient coal from south America, plus there’s the extra emissions from shipping it to the UK too.
I get the world needs to gradually move away from fossil fuels, but the amount of Steam Locomotives and Steam engines that run, only account for a very miniscule amount of carbon emissions, so I think they should be exempt and allowed to remain running on fossil coal, or At least until alternative BioCoal is ready.
It’s ships/shipping that produce the most carbon, yet they’re leaving them alone, ships can run on cleaner fuels such as LNG, or synthetic fuel rather than HFO, Diesel or Bunker Oil, yet they seem to be doing nothing about ships, and instead picking on sectors that account for only a very miniscule amount of carbon, such as heritage Steam Railways.
There’s a lot of young Steam Enthusiasts out there and I’m pretty certain they too like me and any other Steam Enthusiast want to see these stunning Steam Locomotives continue to run forever, be that on Fossil coal, BioCoal or Oil.
I personally wish we could go back to Steam Locomotives with BioCoal instead of the modern diesels and Electrics we have today, but that’s never going to happen sadly and I wasn’t around in the Steam age, although my grandparents have told me their fond memories of it.
Lets hope Steam Locomotives carry on Running forever with a clean fuel like BioCoal 🤞
Chris I’m slightly older than you at 37 and agree with everything you say bar one point.
I work at sea as a Master and the industry is heavily reinventing how ships are powered. This will of course take time however its moving in the right direction. LNG powered vessels are becoming more common, this week the first hydrogen powered tugboat has been accepted after sea trials, rotor sails are being retrofitted and scrubbers for older vessels have been a requirement for some years now. Believe it or not even my own vessel runs off modified chip oil!
The bio fuel coal looks promising but seems a long way off doing what the usual stuff does for standard gauge locomotives. I’d hate for our heritage to be stuffed and mounted and an exemption seems a fantastic idea. If steam locos were deemed one of our biggest emission offenders then I’d think it pretty safe to say as a country we’d done a bloody good job in going green!
Railway are run to do a job, not enthusiast like us. Rubbish or not.
I saw 60103 this year at The Bluebell Railway, and have seen her many times in the years past, including at Tilbury Docks, when she came back from Australia, as well as riding behind her……
To see her end up as a static Stuffed exhibit would be such a shame, as MALLARD has become….
This is THE most famous loco in the World and brings joy to millions, and even though she is now indeed a Century old, to keep her alive and running has got to be the better option, and the best way to represent the NRM. It costs so much money to keep these locos running , but when they are restored, lets enjoy them to their full glory……
Lets hope the NRM keeps her running …..so we all may enjoy her again and again…..
Beguiling loco – but she requires the deepest of pockets and constant attention … there are far more deserving historical locos that would benefit from the public money poured in to her – those backbone locos on heritage lines who give a great touch and feel experience to visitors … and truly keep stream alive. then this fur coat old girl. Put her next to mallard in her shadow as she is a far more deserving candidate for the nations admiration and mallard isn’t costing nothing .
It’s a pitty they don’t share as much care and attention to the other locos they have in their care……ie KOYLI
To keep it running put it on a full repairing lease if you can find a competent taker. The current main line ticket cost a fortune at least use it.
Roland Kennington will be rolling over in his grave
This is typical short term thinking by the NRM but what do people expect when a railway museum of world renowned is run and administered by people with no foundation in preserved railways or railways in general
A railway museum needs people leading it who are steeped in railway history and the running of railways.
Such a lazy characterisation. Current NRM Advisory Board includes amongst others the Chair of Network Rail, former Managing Director of NYMR, CEO of the Heritage Railway Association, a Director of Irish Rail, the Director of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research, 2 Directors of Network Rail, a Director of GTR and one of the country’s leading railway historians and broadcasters. So what was that about a museum run by people with no background in running a railway or preserved railways?
Bring it back to donny where its real home is
This is very concerning and appears to be the prelude to a longer perhaps permanent service withdrawal. The fact that a much-loved and popular exhibit will not be on public view, and not because of it being maintained, is reprehensible. It is well known that the Science Museum Group has a lot of issues, and finance is one of them, and not maintaining this locomotive may be a cost-cutting measure. The group already also has long maintenance issues, with its Manchester and Bradford sites only partially open, and I believe the NRM is also being repaired. All these are putting a strain on the group’s income, so withdrawing a major attraction, which was restored over a long period, at public expense, seems to be a misguided decision.
Oliver it is because of its Iconic status that the NRM has to make these kinds of decisions in order to make sure that the engine is first and foremost safe and secure so that in the same way we can see Locomotion No 1 Rocket and Sans Pariel our grandchildrens grandchildren can see Scotsman. The NRM at York is about to undergo a major redevelopment which means that most of the exhibits there won’t be on show. Please remember too that the engine itself was damaged whilst in the care of a heritage railway. Scotsman may be an icon but it’s 100 years old. Also even icons need to be properly maintained and cannot be on show 24/7 365 days a year.
I was a fireman at Kings Cross in the 1950s and prepared the Flying Scotsman for the main line on several occasions. Often took her to the station and picked her up on return but never got to fire her on the main line as I was very junior. I’ve seen her at York and Ely and hope to see her again at Ely this week, an iconic locomotive that still stirs my heart.
Good for you! Terry Carroll.
I agree with Oliver ,however ownership may be a stumbling block .
I hope it is kept operational ,perhaps keep the mileage at a reasonable level.
And now we see Azumas at King’s X. When I was 10 I sat in a cab of a Deltic to the end of the platform. It was going for refuelling. How times have changed. I loved the railways then but dislike it now as I don’t like the trains of today. I’m a driver. I drove slammers which I loved. Now it’s all rubbish.
It’s not their loco, its the nations loco, they are effectively the custonians of the loco organising what it does on behalf of the people. If they do this, they have failed their duty and should have the loco stripped off them to a new owner ie a Heritage railway.
At some point would love to see 60103 lined up around the NRM turntable with Nigel Gresley, Tornado, Blue Peter and the new P2 Prince of Wales with each operating a special each day to the NRM at Shildon.
That’s a pipe dream, with respect, what with the financials and the health and safety aspects of running on the main lines wouldn’t permit this, the planning that goes into running these specials is immense, as much as I share your views, sadly it will never happen,
Don’t forget Green Arrow, you can’t have a Gresley etc. lineup without a V2.
How much has the
public raised, donated and gifted to keep the Flying Scotsman running? We can’t allow this support to be forgotten. A century-old lady does not deserve to be shunted into a shed to lose her polish, paintwork, and dignity, if this is the owners’ intention. If it isn’t, we’d like to know what is the plan?