Flying Scotsman locomotive steams into Edinburgh to mark centenary

Far from retiring the Flying Scotsman is about to embark on a birthday tour of Britain, Rachel Townsend reports

The Flying Scotsman, widely considered to be the world's most famous steam-powered train, has celebrated its 100th birthday.

On Friday, the locomotive delighted crowds in Scotland as it pulled into Edinburgh Waverley station.

The train entered service on February 24, 1923 as it set off on its first journey from the sheds at Doncaster Works.

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage read out a poem called The Making Of The Flying Scotsman to mark the event.

He rode on the locomotive as part of the process of writing the poem, in which he describes how the world famous steam engine "coughed into life" and features "vast steel circumferences" and "rippling bodywork pouring with sweat".

Measuring at 70ft long, the Flying Scotsman has covered two million miles across a lifetime of service.

The locomotive was the UK's first to reach 100 miles per hour and attracted crowds of thousands during tours of the United States, Canada and Australia.

During the last 19 years it has been a working exhibit at the National Railway museum, in York, where it continues to draw in daily crowds.

But in recognition of its landmark birthday the Flying Scotsman will spend the remainder of 2023 touring the UK.

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