WATCH: Legendary Flying Scotsman passes through Stafford Railway Station
Crowds flocked to Stafford Railway Station to watch one of the world's most beloved locomotives steam past.
The Flying Scotsman, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, travelled through several stations in Staffordshire on Saturdayas part of a return trip from London Euston to Chester.
As part of a private rail tour while hauling The Cheshireman, the famous train travelled through Lichfield Trent Valley, Rugeley Trent Valley, Colwich, and Stafford railway stations.
It passed through the Staffordshire stations between 10.05 am and 10.28 am on the way to Chester, and then again between 5.09pm and 5.33pm on the way back to London.
The history of the Flying Scotsman
The world-famous steam locomotive was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built in Doncaster.
It entered service on February 24, 1923 as it set off on its first journey from the sheds at Doncaster Works.
The Flying Scotsman's achievements include hauling the inaugural non-stop London to Edinburgh train service in 1928, and becoming the UK’s first locomotive to reach 100mph six years later.
In February this year, the Scotsman pulled into Edinburgh Waverley railway station to celebrate the train's centenary.
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage read out a poem called The Making Of The Flying Scotsman to mark the event.
Armitage 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”.
He said he was struck by “this incredible coming together of both mechanics and metaphysics”.
