Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part V]

If you've been following Cautionary Tale No. 4472 through parts I to IV (which you can read here, here, here, and here) then you might want to head on over to my new blog to read (the probably final) Part V of this fascinating tale.

Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part IV]

While the previous part of this tale was clearly painful, not everything associated with the Flying Scotsman has required me to visit a hospital! About five months after the last part of the tale I saw the engine in steam for the first time.

The Cumbrian Mountain Express ran from Carnforth (I think) to Hellifield in the Yorkshire Dales. I assume they rotated through the engines stored at Steamtown as almost every time we went to Hellifield we saw a different steam engine pulling the train. On the 25th of February 1984 the Cumbrian Mountain Express was being pulled by the Flying Scotsman. This time my Dad had a bit more room for taking a photo and so you finally get to see what the Flying Scotsman looks like in real life rather than relying on the Hornby model. Having seen the Flying Scotsman twice in close succession it would be a further 20 years before I would see it again.

In 2004, Flying Scotsman was put up for sale. At this time there was a real worry that it might be sold abroad and the National Railway Museum in York started an appeal to raise money to buy the engine. Unfortunately at the time I was still a penniless student and was unable to donate anything. Fortunately though the country rallied around and combined with a significant donation from Richard Branson, 4472 was purchased for the nation.

During the summer of 2004, Flying Scotsman ran regularly from York to Scarborough pulling the Scarborough Spa Express train. The last run of the summer was scheduled for the 31st of August and given how close that is to my birthday I was treated to tickets so that I could finally experience being on a train pulled by the Flying Scotsman. We had bought the more expensive tickets so we ate lunch on the train, had a nice walk around Scarborough and then the return trip to York. It was all over far too quickly but I wouldn't have changed any of it.

You might have noticed that the photo from York in 2004 shows changes to the engine -- specifically the smoke deflectors attached to the front sides of the boiler. Personally I prefer the engine without these smoke deflectors and for accuracy given the apple green LNER livery it shouldn't have them as they were a 1960's addition when it was painted in the dark green livery of British Rail. For those who prefer this configuration though Hornby have produced a new model depicting the Flying Scotsman as it currently is.

Flying Scotsman is not currently running as it is undergoing a full maintenance and service at York before being re-certified for use on the mainline network. Hopefully this should be finished sometime in 2008, and Flying Scotsman will once again be seen belching steam over the Yorkshire countryside. If you can't wait that long though have a look at this short movie which I borrowed from the National Railway Museum's Flying Scotsman website.

Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part III]

In the previous parts of this tale I've introduced my first train set and given a very brief history of the Flying Scotsman up to September 1983 when it was housed and maintained at Steamtown in Carnforth, where this exciting episode of Cautionary Tale No. 4472 continues the story.

I'd just had my fourth birthday and we had gone on holiday, renting a self catering house in Arnside just north of Carnforth in Cumbria. There was me, my younger brother (who spent much off the time crying while cutting teeth), my parents and my Grandma. I'm not sure how long the holiday was, probably a week, or how long we had been there but on the 18th of September 1983 we all visited Steamtown in nearby Carnforth.

Steamtown was original a British Rail engine shed, but had by this time become one of the primary steam engine preservation sheds. Many, if not most, of the steam engines certified to run on the mainline network were stored and maintained at Steamtown and as such it was a great place to visit. While this is still it's primary function, under it's current owners West Coast Railways, it is unfortunately no longer open to the public (for more details see this brief history page). Back in 1983 though it was a fantastic place to visit, especially for a 4 year old with a fascination for steam engines.

For me the highlight of the day was going to be seeing Flying Scotsman for the first time. It was amazing, and huge. Steam trains still seem large but to a four year old it really was unbelievably big. Unfortunately, it wasn't steaming on the day we visited but it was on display in one of the sheds. Of course given the limited room in the sheds this meant getting photos of it was difficult, but my Dad did his best, and at least managed a photo of the name plate.

We spent quite a bit of time wondering around Steamtown having a wonderful day. At the time there was quite a lot to see both in the sheds and out by the water tower and turntable. To get a feel for what it was like I'd recommend visiting this gallery of photos which covers the period I visited in. It really was a glorious day and all too soon it came time to leave. Of course I didn't want to leave without just one more look at the Flying Scotsman, so we headed back towards the sheds for one final look.

Now I don't know how many of you will have ever wondered around an engine yard but as you can guess there are train tracks everywhere. We were following one set of tracks back to the sheds and I was holding onto my Grandma's hand. I don't know why but I decided it would be fun to jump from one railway sleeper to the next rather than simply walking. Now this was relatively safe at the sedate pace of my Grandma, but disaster was bound to strike as soon as I decided to go a little faster and let go of her hand.

I don't know how far apart railway sleepers are spaced but for a four year old they are probably too far apart to be jumping from one to the next at speed -- or maybe I just had short legs. Anyway I hadn't got far before I missed placed my footing and fell. Now falling in a railway yard would always have ended with a cut, even if only a nasty knee graze, but with my unsurpassed aiming skills I managed to land head first on one of the bolts that holds the metal track to the wood sleeper.

Quite surprisingly, I don't remember it being painful. I do, however, remember there being a lot of blood. People always say that head wounds bleed heavily and as an expert in the field (since this incident I've used at least a coffee table, metal window frame and a car boot lock to draw blood from my head) I can confirm that they do. I assume my parents were in a bit of a panic by this point but for some reason my memory of the events following me falling are a little on the fuzzy side! The next thing I remember clearly is reading a book.

My parents had managed to get me back towards the entrance and attract the attention of a member of staff. For some reason rather than phoning for an ambulance I was driven to the nearby hospital. I think we went in the car of a member of staff who knew the way to the hospital. My mum, brother and grandmother certainly went straight back to where we were staying while my Dad went with me to hospital. To keep me occupied in the car I was given the Ladybird Leaders book of trains from the shop. I don't know how much of it I read or looked at in the car as I was worried about dripping blood onto it. As you can see from the picture even 24 years later it is still in relatively good condition. Ignoring christening presents and the train set this is probably the earliest gift that I still have and cherish in a weird way.

And now for a useful tip for anyone who ever finds themselves having a child who falls over cutting his head on a railway bolt and needs stitches in the middle of his forehead. The child will find the stitching equipment quite scary especially when it is so close to his eyes and so can see exactly what is going to happen next. Trying to find enough hospital staff to fully restrain a screaming four year old is a big challenge. What you need to find is a small towel (you should always know where your towel is at). Simply place the towel across the child's eyes so they can't see what is going on and they will lie perfectly still while their forehead is stitched up. Thanks to the matron at the hospital for that very useful parenting tip!

Fortunately I wasn't left with any permanent damage other than a lovely X shaped scare in the middle of my forehead. It is no longer very visible unless I tan, but as you can see from this school photo it used to be a lot more visible.

So the main point of Cautionary Tale No.4472 is that if at four years old you find yourself wondering around a railway yard try not to run along the sleepers. I speak from a position of experience when I tell you it won't end well!

And in the next, and final, exciting instalment I'll bring you up to date on my experiences of seeing Flying Scotsman, with the additional promise that there will be no further mention of blood!

Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part II]

In the previous part of this tale I mentioned that the Flying Scotsman had a well known history and so wasn't just a unknown model train. For those of you who don't know your steam train history Flying Scotsman was the first steam train to be official recorded at 100mph. This magnificent feat was achieved in 1934 as part of testing for the introduction of high speed trains between London, Newcastle and Leeds.

Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 at Doncaster works from a design by Sir Nigel Gresley. The engine was initially numbered 1472, but was renumbered 4472 during repairs carried out before being displayed by LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. Flying Scotsman was used continually on the mainline network until the 14th of January 1963 when it pulled it's last train for British Railways who were fazing out steam trains during a phase modernizing the rail network.

After the removal of steam trains from the British rail network, Flying Scotsman, now in private ownership, was the only steam engine allowed to run on the main line network. This allowed Flying Scotsman to earn enough money, running nostalgia tours, to pay for its continued upkeep. Over the following years it continued pulling trains around the UK as well as a couple of promotional tours in America.
The main part of my cautionary tale takes part in mid September of 1983, at which time Flying Scotsman was owned by William McAlpine and was stored and maintained at Steamtown in Carnforth, which is where the tale will continue in the next exciting instalment of...... Cautionary Tale No. 4472.

References:

• The National Railway Museum -- Flying Scotsman
• Steaming on: Stories of Locomotives in the National Railway Collection by Ian R. Smith
• 150 Years of Doncaster Plant Works: A Pictorial History of Yorkshire's Famous Railway Works by Peter Tuffrey

Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part I]

For some reason a number of my earliest memories are of being ill at Christmas. This tale (which will unfold over a number of blog posts) starts at Christmas 1982 when my childhood asthma (which thankfully no longer plagues me to the extent it used to) left me feeling pretty terrible. This was unfortunate as my Christmas present was every small boys dream -- a train set! Well I think it was every small boys dream, it was certainly mine anyway.

I was too ill to really appreciate the train set. All I remember is being sat wrapped up in a blanket in the lounge on Boxing Day watching my cousin Andrew showing me how it worked. He ran the steam train round and round the oval track setup on the lounge floor. Andrew already knew all about train sets as his father had a fantastic set permanently laid out in his loft, something of which I've always been jealous.

When I eventually got to play with the train set myself, I found that it consisted of a simple oval of track, some passenger carriages and steam engine No 4472, or as it's more commonly known The Flying Scotsman. Having hunted around Hornby's website I'm assuming I got the equivalent of this starter pack. All my trains are currently packed away in my parents loft but to give you an idea here is a photo of The Flying Scotsman from Hornby's website which, as far as I can tell, shows that the model hasn't changed in appearance since I got mine.


I can't remember if my interest in steam trains started before I got the train set or was started by the train set, all I do know is that I have been fascinated by the power and elegance of steam trains for as long as I can remember. Over the years my brother, father and I collected many more model trains but The Flying Scotsman is still my most prized. I think this is because not only was it the first one I owned, but with such a well known history it was always more then just a simple model.

As we shall see, in later parts of this tale, my fascination with 4472 has brought me both pain and happiness over the years but it all started with a train set I was too ill to initially enjoy.