Last chance to buy tickets for Flying Scotsman trip in Fife

Fifers have one last chance to enjoy a steam train trip across the iconic Forth Bridge and through the Fife Circle this May - led by the world’s most famous locomotive.
There are still some tickets left for the Flying Scotsman evening tour in Fife.There are still some tickets left for the Flying Scotsman evening tour in Fife.
There are still some tickets left for the Flying Scotsman evening tour in Fife.

Originally there were three special rail excursions on Sunday, May 19, but organisers have revealed there are tickets for only one trip left.

Fifers can still board the evening tour which will see the carriages hauled by Flying Scotsman, crossing the Forth Bridge to Fife and travel along the Firth of Forth through Aberdour, Burntisland and Kinghorn to Kirkcaldy, with magnificent views across to Edinburgh and the Lothians.

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The tour is being organised by Bo’ness-based SRPS Railtours.

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Jim Paterson, of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS), said: “There are some tickets left but only for the evening train from Inverkeithing leaving at 7pm and returning at 10.30pm.

“Each train continues through Dunfermline and along the coast through Culross and Kincardine then over line through Clackmannan and Alloa to Stirling with views of the Ochil Hills and the Wallace Monument.

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“If time permits there will be a short stop for photographs at Stirling, then the train continues through Falkirk to complete the Forth Circle.”

Tickets are priced £99 for an adult and £75 for a child (Standard) and £149 for an adult (First Class).

Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design created by Nigel Gresley. It hauled long-distance expresses on the East Coast Main Line.

The locomotive set two world records for steam traction, becoming the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour and setting a record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive when it ran 422 miles in 1989 while in Australia.

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After withdrawal by British Rail in 1963, Flying Scotsman went on to achieve considerable fame in preservation under several owners including Alan Pegler, Sir William McAlpine, Tony Marchington, and now the National Railway Museum.

Flying Scotsman, which is the oldest working locomotive still operating, was restored at a cost of more than £4 million by the museum in 2016 and has visited Scotland three times since for tours of the Borders Railway and Fife Circle.

The SRPS Railtours programme for 2019 also includes a steam-train trip to Aberdeen on May 5 with pick-ups in Dalgety Bay and Kirkcaldy (tickets priced £99 for adults, £75 for a child and £149 adult first class).

Other steam hauled Railtours are on every Sunday in August picking up at Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, and Dalgety Bay and going to the Scottish Borders. Bookings for these trips has started.

You can buy tickets online at http://www.srps.org.uk/railtours/programme.htm or by telephoning 0131 202 1033.