Flying Scotsman The Locomotive – Centenary Edition 1923-2023
By Geoffrey Hughes, Philip Benham and Chris Nettleton
FLYING Scotsman was well on the way to the accolade of being known as the world’s most famous engine within a few years of its construction in 1923. Digital broadcaster Talking Pictures TV recently reinforced this when they screened a long-lost cinema feature film released in 1929 – shot on the Hertford Loop with the full co-operation of the LNER – entitled ‘The Flying Scotsman’, where the central character was as much the engine as the actors playing out a drama around it. The film naturally gets a mention in this expanded ‘Centenary’ revision and update to the 2016 edition of historian Geoffrey Hughes’ original 2005 book, but by now the film is nothing more than a curious footnote to a story that spans not only multiple generations but also the globe.