With steam to spare FLYING SCOTSMAN heads eastwards between Fourstones and Hexham, on the Tyne Valley railway line. The date would be prior to 1983, the year that the GWR coaches immediately behind the loco were banned from mainline running
There were lots of changes to 4472's configuration down the years, after her purchase by Mr Pegler she was painted in what was widely known as Apple Green livery. He did away with the double blast pipe, the German-style smoke deflectors and the banjo-shaped dome on the boiler top all fitted during the later days of her British Railways ownership. All of these features have of course been reinstated since she became part of the National Railway Collection
The general appearance of A3 Class loco's which were so familiar to me in the many hours I spent as a young locospotter on the platforms at Lowfell Station, were as seen in this photo, a marked difference however would be the various levels of grime adorning the loco's and rolling stock that passed me by.