Daughter of man who saved historic 'Flying Scotsman' to wave off Concorde in Swanage
The steam locomotive was saved in the 1960s from being scrapped
The daughter of the man who saved the historic ‘Flying Scotsman’ from being cut up for scrap in the 1960s - is to wave off the Concorde on its first trip today.
Penny Pegler will be waving off ‘Flying Scotsman’ from Swanage station when it departs with a seven-carriage train at 10.05am sharp.
Later today at 11.45am, Penny will be riding behind the locomotive in the 1940s Pullman ‘Devon Belle’ observation carriage – known as Car 14.
The ‘Flying Scotsman’ was the Concorde of its day and was the first steam locomotive in the United Kingdom to haul a train at 100 miles an hour.
Alan Pegler - Penny's father - purchased ‘Flying Scotsman’ from British Railways in 1963 for £3,000 and saved it from being cut up and scrapped for parts.
Now owned by the National Railway Museum in York, No. 60103 ‘Flying Scotsman’ will be hauling trains on the popular Swanage Railway for five days: from today until to Wednesday, 26 October.
‘Flying Scotsman’ will also be on static display at Swanage from Thursday, 27 October, to Sunday, 6 November.
Penny Pegler said on today's event: “‘Flying Scotsman’ was a very important part of my life as a child.
"I was nine years old when my father came up to my room on a snowy night in January 1963, to say goodnight and told me, with a twinkle in his eye, that he had just bought a beautiful steam locomotive to save her from being cut up in a scrapyard.
“Over the next few years, my father and I went on many wonderful trips all over the UK with ‘Scotty’ as we called ‘Flying Scotsman’. For me, she was lovely and a special part of my family life.
“My father had a passion for ‘Flying Scotsman’, ever since he saw her as a four-year old boy in London and wanted to keep her running - not to be just a static exhibit – so it will be wonderful to see her hauling trains from Swanage into the beautiful Purbeck countryside.
“He wanted to keep her alive for future generations to enjoy and today she is everybody’s locomotive with everyone having their own special memory of ‘Flying Scotsman’.
"My father would be so happy to see that, and he must be looking down and smiling."