The Flying Scotsman has arrived triumphant in York.

A name that is instantly recognisable as one of the most famous steam trains in the world, The Flying Scotsman has now been restored to its former glory and taken up residence in the National Rail Museum in York.

The train left Kings Cross station on the morning of Thursday 25 February 2016, and arrived in York a 13:20.

On board, for this journey were 297 passengers, some of whom paid up to £450 for a ticket to travel on the train. Amongst the VIP guests was Ron Kennedy, an 83-year-old who drove the Flying Scotsman from 1956 until it was retired in 1963.

Crowds gathered at Kings Cross to see The Flying Scotsman leave London, and thousands more people lined the route all the way to York. There were a couple of incidents where excited trainspotters on the track forced the train to slow down, and one poor soul who waited to film the train as it went by, had his view obliterated by an unfortunately timed Virgin train going in the opposite direction.

History of the Flying Scotsman

Locomotive No. 1472 Flying Scotsman was designed by Sir Nigel Gresly, and built for London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works in 1923. In 1924 it was selected to appear at the British Empire Exhibition in London, and was renumbered 4472, and given the name ‘Flying Scotsman’ after the London to Edinburgh route that it covered.

The Flying Scotsman set a world speed record in 1934 when it became the first train to officially reach a speed of 100 mph. It remained in service on the Edinburgh to London service until 1963 when it was retired. In its career, the Flying Scotsman had clocked up an impressive 3,341,000 km. After retirement the train spent time in the USA and in Australia where it set the record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive when it ran 711 km in August 1989.

The Flying Scotsman is 21m long, weighs about 96 tonnes and has a top speed of 100mph. It was bought by the National Railway Museum (NRM) in 2004, using £415,000 in public donations, a £365,000 gift from Sir Richard Branson and a £1.8m grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The restoration cost £4.2m, and took 10 years to complete.

The Flying Scotsman is currently on show at the National Railway Museum from 26 February until 7 March and again from 25 March and 8 May. Find out more about seeing this magnificent locomotive