June 20 2005
The fascinating story behind the world’s most famous locomotive, Flying Scotsman, will be told in a permanent interactive exhibition at the National Railway Museum (NRM) due to a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of £275,000.
The project will allow visitors to continue enjoying journeys behind the newly overhauled Flying Scotsman and combine this with a learning experience based on the rich history of the locomotive and its namesake, the express route from London to Edinburgh.
The new Flying Scotsman gallery and exhibition will allow visitors to view the locomotive as it is being prepared for journeys, as well as including objects that link to its past, such as drawings, models, uniforms and videos, allowing them to explore the technology and people that drove this powerful British icon.
Few people realise that when the train originally ran, it provided a hairdressers and cocktail bar for its passengers and the exhibition promises to reveal more about its fascinating past, illustrated by stories about her designer (Sir Nigel Gresley), passengers, crew and owners.
A display in the exhibition will use the latest webcam technology and filming techniques which will for the first time deliver real time footage into the exhibition, allowing visitors to share the experience of a live operating steam locomotive. The grant will also ensure that Flying Scotsman is kept in good working order so that she can continue to carry passengers throughout the UK.
Jon Ingham, Head of Fundraising at the NRM, said: “This is fantastic news and it cannot be underestimated in terms of its importance to the British people. It is of great significance both to those who helped us save Flying Scotsman for the nation, and to all those who will have the opportunity over the next ten years, to encounter the locomotive up-close-and-personal, themselves.
“The challenge now is to create an exhibition that engages with visitors while the locomotive is in residence and equally when steaming through the countryside.”
John Watson, Chair of the HLF Yorkshire and the Humber Committee, added: “This grant is what lottery funding is all about – opening up our much loved heritage for everyone to enjoy and understand.
Flying Scotsman really can be described as ‘the People’s engine’, and it’s wonderful that it now resides in Yorkshire, its birthplace. This new exhibition will tell its fascinating story and make sure it and the National Railway Museum, remains one of our regions most popular visitor attractions.”
Work will start on Flying Scotsman at the end of its operating schedule this year and the state-of-the-art exhibition will open in April 2006. In total, the work will cost £1.4 million. HLF and Yorkshire Forward as major public funders, have pledged the majority of funds towards the project, and the shortfall is expected to be met by income generated from corporate supporters and, hopefully, by generous public donators, who have already donated nearly £25,000 to the ‘Keep Scotsman Steaming’ appeal.