What's the story behind the flying Scotsman ending up in the USA?
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Wonderful shot, I used to go to SF in the summer, would have loved to have seen this one as a kid. You would not know it now but there use to be many miles of track through out SF to all the warehouses on the waterfront. There was even a malting mill in the shadow of Coit tower that used to get loads of grain until the early 70's
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| Posted by Dana M. on November 17, 2016 | |
In response to CyclingRocks question: In 1969 Englishman Alan Pegler brought his famous “Flying Scotsman” 4-6-2 and 9-car train over to the USA for a tour, landing at the port of Houston. Just to prove their track gauge in the UK is the same as ours in the USA and for the adventure of doing it. During the tour of the USA, it headed for winter storage in Slaton, Tex. In the Spring of 1970, it resumed it's continued and extended tour of the USA finally ending up in San Francisco, CA where in 1972 it spent some time operating for the State Belt Railroad. Sadly, this USA tour ended up bankrupting Alan Pegler and was almost the end for The Flying Scotsman herself (at least as a running locomotive, there were even real fears that she might get cut up for scrap, such were the debts...), it spent many months in storage here in the USA, eventually being purchased from the creditors and repatriated back to the UK by the British construction magnate (Sir) William McAlpine. It remained in storage in the UK for years until the York National Railway Museum got the fever to restore The Flying Scotsman and started work on her. However, since 2006 the Flying Scotsman is still undergoing repairs at York’s National Railway Museum and funds are sought to restore it to its as-built 1929 status.
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