Have you seen what’s down at Nene Valley Railway again…before those rides you can now get up close to the engine herself.
Today we bought tickets to step on to that iconic beauty; The Flying Scotsman…
Jack & Josh and the engineering team got her ready 24 hours before on a slow warm up so that we could get on today with a roaring fire in the cab.
The footplate is the tiniest squeeze to get into at just 14.5” and you really cannot swing a cat in there once you get in. It’s a small area in there and HOT! Did you know that the fire burns around 900-1000degrees!
The closeness of everything helps the shovelling of coal. As you stand sideways you can reach in to get coal and in one swing throw it into the furnace.
After the footplate you get to walk slowly down the tender corridor… and that’s a squeeze too at just 17” wide and 58” tall.
Finally you reach the travelling Post Office exchange carriages where you can see their sorting boxes for mail.
Built in 1923 she is still an icon item of British heritage – with her memorable number 60103…It’s lovely to just see her.
For train buffs: she’s 70ft long and weighs 97 tonnes. Her top speed is a surprising 100mph. Made in 1922 it cost £7,944 to build. Originally an apple green colour and numbered 1472 & 4472 she was renumbered and painted bright green in 1949.
There are still tickets left up to 11th October at Nene Valley Railway at £8.
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