A story in steam

TODAY the world's most famous railway engine became the focus of a new exhibition, and of a new way of doing things at the National Railway Museum in York. But it is in no state to celebrate. Flying Scotsman is grounded.

It will only be cleared to fly again in late 2007. A team of five engineers are dismantling and overhauling every last bolt, in order to regain a track-worthiness certificate which will allow it to soar along Yorkshire's railways again.

Yet the eponymous engine is not absent from The Flying Scotsman Story, the £700,000 exhibition at the NRM which opened today. For the launch itself, the famous green cab - decorated with the most memorable number on the railways, No 4472 - forms an archway to the new display.

And throughout the coming months, the work to upgrade the Scotsman will be on full display. Even when this loco is motionless, stripped to its black inner core, it remains a huge draw.

"When you see them in the component parts, the boiler, wheels, tender and cab, they're quite manageable in terms of people's understanding," says Stephen Richards, head of creative development at the NRM.

"With steam engines you begin to understand how they work. You can see where the fuel goes in and where the steam comes out. They're more accessible than diesels."

The museum's chief engineer, Rod Lytton, says the condition of the engine is "not too bad".

"There are one or two major problems. The right hand cylinder is cracked from front to back," he said.

This will be replaced with a spare casting obtained by Alan Pegler, a previous owner of the Scotsman. "It's been laying about for 40 years at least," Rod said.

Most of the repairs will be done in-house, but the wheels must go elsewhere to have the steel rims re-profiled.

The flange on the inside of the wheels is the bit which "keeps it on the rails. If they're not right, it can derail and jump off the track. It's one of the most critical parts of the engine".

For those who like nothing more than a weekend spent under the bonnet of their car, the way the engine is put together will be fascinating enough. But the appeal of Flying Scotsman is so much more than the sum of its parts. It speaks to almost everyone.

For those of a certain age, the Scotsman instantly transports them down memory lane to the time when they watched steam trains thunder down their local line. Younger generations, meanwhile, are thrilled to see a hulk of modern history up close.

"The Scotsman is a world icon," says Stephen. "The crucial thing is that everybody has heard of it, but they're not quite sure why it's famous."

The reason is simple: what we would now call spin. "It's been marketed for different reasons in every decade it's been around," he explains.

In 1924 it was displayed as owner LNER's flagship locomotive at the British Empire Exhibition. Ten years later, Flying Scotsman became the first engine to officially clock 100mph. Back then it was hailed as a triumph of modernity.

When diesels took over in the Sixties, the Scotsman immediately transformed into the enduring symbol of a bygone age. Now in private hands, it became the only steam engine still permitted to travel on British Rail's main lines.

From the Seventies through to the Nineties, No 4472 attained an international reputation, conquering both America and Australia. And in 2004, when it was saved from sale abroad by an appeal led by the NRM, Flying Scotsman acquired the status of national treasure, the engineering equivalent of the late Queen Mother.

Today it begins a new role, that of leading light in the railway museum's newest exhibition. The Flying Scotsman Story puts both the locomotive, the train and the route in context, a story told from five different perspectives:

u The designers and constructors of the Scotsman who built the locomotive to Sir Nigel Gresley's exacting blueprint

u The crew - not only drivers and firemen, but the people serving the cocktails, selling the tickets and cleaning the carriages

u The passengers: what was it like to travel on this engine in its heyday?

u The admirers, from the five-year-old boy who donated his pocket money to the Save The Scotsman appeal through to those who have followed its progress passionately for 60 years

u The owners, from the LNER to the private steam buffs whose dreams of possessing this ultimate train became an, at times, nightmarish reality.

This emphasis on the people, rather than the engines, is part of a fresh vision for the National Railway Museum developed by Stephen Richards.

"What we want to do is create new visits and new experiences, but we don't want to alienate our existing audience. It's very much about engaging with a broader sector of our society.

"We are using the Scotsman almost as a test, or phase one of the new vision. The whole ethos is about people stories."

One drawback of the museum pinpointed by Stephen is the lack of extra information on the exhibits. So with the Mallard, say, there is only a brief guide to its history, and nothing on the background behind its record-breaking run, no debate over its merits, not enough to satisfy the more inquiring visitor.

"We want to allow people to understand and be informed, if that's what they're looking to get from a visit to the railway museum."

In future, Stephen intends to make more use of the wealth of oral history stored at the NRM to bring more of the history of the railways to life.

Making the museum more accessible is a key object of the Government, which holds the purse strings. And it should further improve impressive visitor numbers which already make it the busiest museum outside London.

The changes are certainly creating interest: segments for two CBBC Easter specials to have been filmed at the NRM.

So how does the railway museum's other new attraction fit into all this: the awesome, white Ferris wheel which has risen with astonishing speed and precision above Leeman Road?

It enables the museum to do two things, Stephen said.

First, to provide an exhilarating new attraction. And second to generate cash to be spent on making more of the collection available to the public.

"For us it's about getting extra money to do those projects that create a new railway museum that's exciting and really fits the 21st century," he said.

Flying Scotsman

The route

The route of the Flying Scotsman is the 390-mile of East Coast Main Line, between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh Waverley

Today the route is run by GNER, one of the sponsors of the exhibition

The train

The Flying Scotsman service began in 1862 with the introduction of a 10am departure from King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley called the Special Scotch Express. The journey took 10 hours, including a half-hour lunch stop at York

In 1924, when four new companies were created to run Britain's railways, the service was re-named the Flying Scotsman and to promote it a new locomotive was named Flying Scotsman

The engine

Flying Scotsman, an A1 express passenger locomotive, was completed at Doncaster works on February 7, 1923. It cost £7,944

In 1928, Flying Scotsman pulled the Flying Scotsman train on its first non-stop run, thanks to Nigel Gresley's design which enabled it to travel 392 miles on one tender of coal

In 1934, Flying Scotsman achieved the first authenticated 100mph by a steam locomotive

Updated: 09:06 Wednesday, April 05, 2006