Flying Scotsman

I went along to Bury Station to see the Flying Scotsman this afternoon. I had planned to go on International Women’s Day as they had an all women team driving and running the train….it was temporarily known as the Flying Scotswoman. I searched for times of when the train was running but to no avail. I know it makes me a bit of an anorak, but oh my, I do love a steam train. The noise, the steam, the absolutely immense power is amazing.

Pat and I arrived at the station just as it arrived. There were so many people, but we raced down to the end of platform 2 as it moved up and down the tracks so that it went from the back of the carriages to the front ready to make another journey.

The whistle blew and the steam belched out and then it was off. It was polished and gleaming to perfection. It was magnificent.

When we arrived in Bury we weren’t sure which road the station was on so we asked a woman who told us and we said we were going to see the Flying Scotsman. She said, “Oh yes, I wondered why there were so many men with cameras around,” I didn’t like to say I had my camera in my bag! lol. There were an awful lot of ‘enthusiasts’ there, but the man who stood behind Pat and I on the platform was the best. The whistle blew and steam gushed out as it started to move and I think he had an orgasmic moment as he excitedly said, “Oh baby, Yes!” I caught Pat’s eye and she guffawed into her scarf. There were a couple of boys who were videoing and I overheard one saying he’d captured some great ‘whistles’. Oh it is great listening to real enthusiasts ha ha ha.