Flying Scotsman And The Us Tour

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Blacknred81, Apr 27, 2021.

  1. Blacknred81

    Blacknred81 Well-Known Member

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    So came across this video, about that time the Flying Scotsman was brought stateside for a few years to tour the country, interesting watch, shame it almost ended in disaster for such a locomotive....
     
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  2. fizpix

    fizpix Well-Known Member

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    Wait what happened?
     
  3. Blacknred81

    Blacknred81 Well-Known Member

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    To sum up the video quickly, they guy (Alan Pegler) who owned the Flying Scottsman went bankrupt while on tour in the US as his funding from the British Government was cut after the person who supported him was voted out of office after the 1st year of the tour. So the Flying Scottsman was stuck in California when Pegler went bankrupt, and was in danger of being acquired by the creditors, so the Scottsman was stored at a US Army depot in Lathrop, Ca.

    Luckily, Sir William McAlpine bought the Scottsman from Pegler and had it quietly shipped out of the Bay Area to return it to England.

    The video goes more in detail of the tour itself and how the whole deal went down.
     
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  4. Nick Y

    Nick Y Well-Known Member

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    The UK and other sponsors decided not to fund a second year of the tour so the owner had to fund it.
    She was eventually parked up in San Francisco at Fisherman's wharf where people could see it.
    After a while the local restaurants and businesses wanted her moved because it blocked the views so she was moved to a local naval base.
    Unfortunately the owner (Alan Pegler) then went broke and she was left there until someone else purchased her (William McAlpine) and brought her back to the UK at great expense.
    She was in a bad state when she arrived back in the UK and needed a complete overhaul so McAlpine paid for it all.
     
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  5. Lamplight

    Lamplight Well-Known Member

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    Thank you for sharing this. I just watched it and not knowing much about it previously, it was a fascinating watch. Fascinating how much of the world that engine has seen... :)
     
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