So went up to a chilly Bury early this morning to check out East Lancs Railway's 'Scotsman in Steam' event - the running of the newly restored Flying Scotsman between Heywood & Rawtenstall.
60103 is currently in the black paint of LNER wartime livery rather than the more famous apple green, as explained on the Wiki page:
The National Railway Museum announced on 15 February 2011 that Flying Scotsman
will be painted in LNER Wartime Black livery when it undergoes its
steam tests and commissioning runs. The letters 'NE' appear on the sides
of the tender, along with the number '103' on one side of the cab and
'502' on the other – the numbers it was given under the LNER's
renumbering system.
According to someone at Ramsbottom Station, it'll be repainted in original apple green when it returns to it's home of the National Railway Museum [ btw in that post there's a photo of the Flying Scotsman name plate whilst it was being restored ]
Anyway, a few photos from today's running. As it was leaving then Bury then when it passed through Ramsbottom. Not a lot of time at either station to get many photos, hence the random angles... [ for better photos, have a look through here ]
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| APPROACHING BURY STATION, BACKWARDS |
The Flying Scotsman wasn't the only train on track today though, a few other steam engines spotted too.... [ though unfortunately no 1970s diesels like last time ]
The Flying Scotsman returns to the East Lancs next weekend - all tickets to ride are sold out but you can still see it running, as I did, at the various stations by referring to this timetable.
Happy spotting!
To find out more about the back story, this 1968 is a good start point:
