Salisbury: 21st September 2021.
On my way to Salisbury railway station to see the arrival of the famous Flying Scotsman locomotive, I stopped in the market to inspect a stall selling second-hand toys. And, among them was a model of the very locomotive I had come to see!
The serial number was different, though. That's because when it came into service with the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923 it carried the number 4470, but when the railways were nationalised in 1947, to form British Railways, it became 60103.
The significant date in the history of Flying Scotsman, though, is 30th November 1934 when, with driver Bill Sparshatt at the controls, it became the first locomotive to be recorded and confirmed as exceeding 100 miles an hour.
(That record was actually claimed by the Great Western Railway's City of Truro, but it couldn't be confirmed)
There has been a train called The Flying Scotsman since 1862, and I'm sure I once read that, even before that, there was a stagecoach service which carried that name? But, this is the first (and probably only) locomotive of that name. The joke at the time was that it was so fast, they didn't have time to put The in front of the name; it's simply Flying Scotsman.
It's certainly a crowd-puller. When it pulled into Salisbury, it was almost impossible to get a decent photo of the engine for all the crowds around if, waving their phones about. But, everything comes to those who wait. After a short while, the train repositioned so the loco could take on coal and water … and afforded a much better photo opportunity.
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