Around 150 onlookers watched The Flying Scotsman pass through Stevenage railway station this morning on its way from London King’s Cross to York.
Commuters and trainspotters gathered to see the famous locomotive go through the town for the second time in the past week after completing its 10-year £4.2 million refit.
Undeterred by grey skies and a winter chill in the air, they saw the steam train pass through the station at around 8.25am, five minutes behind schedule.
Eddie Cooper from Stevenage – a trainspotter who works on Heritage Railway at Nene Valley – said: “It went through pretty fast. Part of the scene is to go along and see it and smell the steam. It was really good, I thoroughly enjoyed that.
“It’s one of the fast ones. They used to run up to 100mph, but now on the lines they’re restricted to 75mph under steam restrictions.”
Asked why the train causes such interest, he added: “It is one that the whole nation have liked right from the start, it has been so famous and gone all over the world.”
The train, which passed through the station for around 15 seconds, was being followed by a helicopter from a news organisation.
It is heading up the Great Northern line on its journey to York, where it will go on display at the National Railway Museum.
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