Flying Scotsman

With no caveat, it sounded like a general statement. Was there a specific reason vacuum gear wasn't retained on FS? If not unavoidable, it's removal does seem counter-productive.

 

A sensible discussion on any livery acknowledges that mainline registered locomotives must adhere to the needs of the working railway. Air Brakes being one such item that has to be accepted.

The left hand drive/right hand drive argument precludes the fact she was later changed to match existing A3s built as right hand drive and in LNER livery.

Regardless of that - 4472 is her best known format and yes - the Pegler era is the most famous of the lot, frankly.

 

Bear in mind the early Gresley A1s allocated to York/Tyneside were fitted with Westinghouse air pumps about half way along the boiler on the right hand side. As the former North Eastern [and North British] operated predominantly air braked stock. With Duel brake East Coast Joint stock carriages on the Anglo Scottish services.

 

It wasn’t unavoidable, the same was done with the Duchess, I suppose they saw no need for it.

 

[Deleted. Post no longer relevant]

 

I'm I imagining it, or did Steam Railway run an appeal to pay for the vac gear to be reinstated? If so, where did the money go...

 

It is vacuum fitted, as is the Duchess. It was removed from 4472 in 1999 but refitted at the last overhaul. The Duchess is air braked but still has a vacuum ejector to operate with vacuum stock -how else can it run on preserved lines and with Vintage Trains?

 

Flying Scotsman definitely had vac brakes when it visited the Bluebell five years ago - either that or I've completely blanked a week of unfitted passenger trains from my memory!

Tom

 

I would have liked to have been a second fly on that wall. There are many unanswered questions with regard to the decisions made, the identities of the individuals involved and so on. In some ways I wish that the engine had been obtained by a group with a proven record of being able to maintain, repair and operate a LNER Pacific rather than the NRM. And now years after the events I am more convinced that this should have happened if it could have been made possible. This is no slight on Ian Riley and his company who had to rescue the sorry situation.
There are simple questions too. The engine used to be fitted with four Wakefield mechanical lubricators and now there is only the one. I know of one engineer involved who wanted to restore the engine to two of these lubricators but this never happened. So where have three Wakefield lubricators disappeared to?

 

It has a vacuum ejector for working vac braked trains but as far as I know the engine and tender are now air braked. Same applies with the Duchess and Tornado

 

Thanks guys, I was just going on what the previous posters had said which seemed to imply that she was air only now.

Apologies

 

There is no requirement for air braking. West Coast operate mainly with vac braked stock.

 

In fairness, Scotsman was in service for the LNER and BR for 40 years with a variety of modifications and rebuilding, along with different liveries.

The loco then spent the first 30 years or so of preservation in A3 condition with LNER Apple Green, so only 10 years less than her actual service life (albeit a few years if that were in storage in the US).

 

Sorry if I confused you the loco and tender were converted to air braking but it still retains a vacuum ejector although I don’t think it did in the Marchington era

 

A reminder of what some may call its best days. Belle Isle in 1968. Sorry about the quality but I was still on Agfa CT18 film back then

 

Nothing wrong with that shot John. Cracking picture.

Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

I can hear that Gresley Beat from here.

 

Scotsman isn’t the only thing in shot that doesn’t look like that anymore…

 

What a stunning photo!

 

Virtually nothing does!