THE Flying Scotsman is more than a railway engine. It is the most famous steam locomotive in the world, an icon of a golden age of transport and a symbol of world-class British engineering.

To see the Flying Scotsman disappear into a foreign private collection would be a desperate shame.

So we are delighted that efforts to bring the locomotive to the National Railway Museum are building up a head of steam.

Today Hugh Bayley and GNER boss Jonathan Metcalfe put their full weight behind the campaign. MPs of all political shades have already called for Lottery money to be made available to secure the Flying Scotsman for the nation.

There is no better home for it than York. The Flying Scotsman was built in Yorkshire, and No 4472 always drew a crowd of admirers on its regular stops at York station.

And when it became the first locomotive to haul a non-stop train from King's Cross to Edinburgh in 1928, the two crews involved changed at Tollerton.

More particularly, there is no better home for it than the NRM. It is the world's largest and best railway museum, with an unparalleled team of experts to care for the locomotive.

After the present owner spent £750,000 restoring the Flying Scotsman, the NRM engineers would be able to maintain it in full working order.

Imagine, for a moment, the Flying Scotsman taking its place next to the Mallard in the Great Hall. What a thrilling prospect, enough to banish the disappointment of the region's failure to land Concorde.

The Government should realise that a genuine piece of history is on the line.

We urge the release of Lottery funds which could secure a permanent platform for the Flying Scotsman in York.

Updated: 11:09 Monday, March 08, 2004