Trainspotters upset as Virgin train blocks Flying Scotsman

Trainspotters had waited excitedly in position for the famous Flying Scotsman
But as it approached a level crossing a much faster Virgin Train zoomed by
All that could be seen was the red and white body of the commuter locomotive

By Scott Campbell For Mailonline

Published: 17:05 BST, 4 September 2017 | Updated: 21:27 BST, 4 September 2017

This is the moment excited trainspotters who had waited 90 minutes to glimpse the Flying Scotsman were left disappointed after a Virgin Train blocked their view.

The men had stood excitedly in position waiting for the famous locomotive to trundle past them at a level crossing.

But as it started to approach a much faster Virgin train zoomed by hiding the entirety of the train in East Anglia.

As the Flying Scotsman started to approach a much faster Virgin train zoomed by hiding the entirety of the train in East Anglia

All that could be seen was the red and white body of the Virgin train, with the Flying Scotsman obscured behind it.

The hilarious moment was caught on camera by enthusiast Graham Linay and posted on Twitter where it has racked up hundreds of views.

He joked: ‘Just between you and me, we laughed, what else could we do?’

MailOnline has contacted Virgin Trains for comment.

All that could be seen was the red and white body of the Virgin train, with the Flying Scotsman obscured behind it

The hilarious moment was caught on camera by enthusiast Graham Linay and posted on Twitter where it has racked up hundreds of views

Why the Flying Scotsman is the one to watch

Flying Scotsman was originally built in Doncaster for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), emerging from the works on 24 February 1923 and initially numbered 1472. It was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley as part of the A1 class – the most powerful locomotives used by the railway. Discover more about Scotsman.

By 1924, when it was selected to appear at the British Empire Exhibition in London, the loco had been renumbered 4472 – and been given the name ‘Flying Scotsman’ after the London to Edinburgh rail service which started daily at 10am in 1862.

The British Empire Exhibition made Flying Scotsman famous, and it went on to feature in many more publicity events for the LNER. In 1928, it was given a new type of tender with a corridor, which meant that a new crew could take over without stopping the train. This allowed it to haul the first ever non-stop London to Edinburgh service on 1 May, reducing the journey time to eight hours.

In 1934, Scotsman was clocked at 100mph on a special test run – officially the first locomotive in the UK to have reached that speed.

It is not the first time that one of the firm’s locomotives has left trainspotters disappointed.

Last February an enthusiast who drove 50 miles and waited nearly an hour to see the Flying Scotsman suffered the same situation.

Ryan Allen, of Spilsby, Lincolnshire, thought he had set up at the perfect spot next to the East Coast Main Line in the village of Little Bytham.

But he was left bitterly disappointed when a commuter train whizzed by at the exact moment the locomotive passed.

The Flying Scotsman’s incredible engineering prowess was demonstrated when it became the first train to break the 100mph barrier in 1934.

The original Flying Scotsman train service began in Edinburgh in 1862 and still runs today.

Its journey between Edinburgh and London took ten hours and stopped just once – for a half an hour stop for lunch at York.

The National Railway Museum bought the locomotive for £2.3million in 2004 before work got under way on its restoration two years later.

For its restoration, Flying Scotsman was painted in its original livery of British Rail green and had its nameplates have been reattached.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk