Flying Scotsman-Following a Grand Folly Across America
 

Greetings Members,

I thought a few of you might be interested in my project below:

I am an artist currently in Texas (visiting from London, England) doing research for a transcontinental art photography project based on decades-old events which occured when my uncle and his father brought "Flying Scotsman", an iconic, antique British steam engine across the Atlantic for four hugely ambitious and ill-fated transcontinental North American journeys (back in the late 1960s/early 1970s). The train spent a whole winter in Texas and several generous Texans and KATY railroad featured largely in the amazing journeys of the train. As Texas was ultimately so important to them, this is why I chose to begin my project here- revisiting and photographing the Texan railroad towns which Flying Scotsman visited.

A TRAVELLING CIRCUS

The stories of the Flying Scotsman arriving from England to journey across North America for a series of fanciful tours are worthy of a novel in themselves. Surviving on a proverbial shoe-string, all the desired elements are there- passion, unrequited love, money problems, double-dealing, borderline extortion, a bankrupt trade delegation, Winston Churchill's look-a-like nephew, Winston Churchill's WWII war train carriages, theatre, glamour, celebrities, two further insolvencies, farce and serendipity - set against a backdrop of big cities, quintessential small-town America and the sweeping landscapes of the endless North American heartland.

For Phase One of my project from November until end-Feb I will be using a combination of road, rail and bus around Texas. Upon the conclusion of this I will be producing an art photography book documenting the project.

If this is a story you might be interested in then please get back to me. You can see a short video and get more information and images from my crowd-funding Kickstarter link below:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ross-north-ame

Kind Regards,



David Swales

davidswales.com

Well hello David and a warm welcome to the forum. You have chosen a very emotive subject regarding this world famous locomotive. It's history is probably the most talked about of all the locomotives in preservation and the passions run high. The cost of the current overhaul has now exceeded three million pounds (including the cost by the NRM to purchase this icon of railway history) however the completion of its current overhaul is far from guaranteed, and it remains untouched for months while waiting its fate!
Will it be completed? I believe it will and eventually it will be back on the main line, but the cost of doing so has been huge! We could have built a brand new one by now and have a replica representing a mounted original in the NRM.
Anyway a very interesting subject that many have written stories on, and no doubt many more to come. Enjoy and I look forward to your input.
All the best
Phil