The FULL Story of Flying Scotsman's USA Tour (1969-1973)

there's not a name in the world that screams The Glory Days of steam so much as Flying Scotsman Britain's most beloved steam engine and the most famous railway engine in the world every trained van has a book with Brian Scotsman in it a model of it in some form or at the very least opinions on the many events of her lifetime nothing brings trained fans together more so than this bright green engine it's hard to imagine a timeline without Flying Scotsman in it but what if I told you that that timeline almost became a reality I'm going to tell you all in excruciating detail the story of flying scotsman's ill-fated tour of the United States and how she almost didn't return home [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] Scotsman is Britain's most beloved steam engine and the most famous steam engine in the world why is this engine so famous you ask well for several reasons first of all she is the only surviving member of Sir Nigel gresley's incredibly successful game-changing A3 class locomotive Hilt his a1s and converted to a3s later on the a1s were the first ever successful British pacifics and redefine what an Express engine looks like to all people the engine itself is also famous for it is named after the service The Flying Scotsman which ran daily from King's cross to Edinburgh in Scotland and back as it was the namesake of the London and Northeastern railway's most known service it became the mascot engine for the lner in all promotional material which of course led to what she is most known for in 1934 she was the first steam engine on record to break a hundred miles an hour that's a fact that it's still disputed to this day but regardless she's famous for it in the early 1960s British Railways announced its modernization plan to fully transition rail motive to Diesel power once diesels and electrics were ready to take them over steam engines were all to be withdrawn from service and that for most engines meant one fate the Cutter's torch in 1962 British Railways announced their plans to scrap Flying Scotsman against much heavy public criticism one man was not going to let that happen a man by the name of Allen pegler hegler was a businessman and worked for British Railways overseeing operations on the Eastern region he had an absolute fascination with Flying Scotsman an obsession that started when he was just a boy and he witnessed Flying Scotsman brand Spanky knew at the time at the 1924 British Empire exhibition he also played a huge role in preserving the festinian railway in Wales in 1951 that's not at all related to this story at all but it's worth mentioning has its proof to show just how much this man loved steam engines when the news of Scotsman scrapping went public pegler stepped in and bought Flying Scotsman outright from British Railways if it weren't for this man Flying Scotsman would not still be around today but ironically also because of this man Flying Scotsman may have also been lost forever only 10 years later but I'm getting ahead of myself pegler spent ungodly amounts of money restoring Flying Scotsman to her former Gloria Doncaster British Railways was very adamant about not letting steam run on their main lines at the time but pegler managed to persuade them a deal that was mutually beneficial allowing Scotsman to haul special Excursion trains in the late 60s Flying Scotsman was the only steam engine allowed on British Railways Mainline Metals hauling rail tours during this time she was fitted with her rather famous second tender to carry extra water in a sea of dirty grimy dark smelly loud unfriendly fume coughing gross diesels this bright green steam engine of a happier bygone era was a really appealing sight to people the rail tours proved to be monumentally successful and Flying Scotsman continued its status as a common household name during this time pegler got the idea to ride scotsman's success even further and take her abroad on a big tour of the United States now you see as pegler was not officially licensed as an engine driver he was not allowed to legally drive Scotsman on the mainline in Britain but overseas he could the US was not as strict about that back then all he had to do was figure out a way of getting her there now pegler was a very persuasive man and somehow in 1969 he managed to gain support from prime minister Harold Wilson Wilson's labor party government helped fund the tour under the request that pegler used the tour as a means of advertising British companies to North America the tour was to be a trade show on Rails and the biggest names of the time signed up including Lloyd Bank and the Royal Shakespeare company the news of England's most cherished steam engine going overseas was met with much criticism several opposed the idea and said that if Brian Scotsman is to go to America she will never return but pegler was a dreamer and still moved forward with his plan despite the criticism to run in America Flying Scotsman would need some modifications railroad regulations in the states were very different from the UK in the U.S steam engines are required to be fitted with a chime steam whistle a bell Buckeye couplers and a cow catcher so Scotsman was fitted with all of them her second water tender would also prove to be very useful in the long distances between cities and the states she was also to go with a special rake of coaches the train consisted of a regular Plain Jane Mark 1 three Thompson breaks and two Grizzly breaks two named Pullmans and the Very Special Devin Bell observation coach at the tail end the five breaks were all refitted into exhibition cars and had their Windows covered up these were not meant to carry passengers they held the exhibits on Britain's companies that pegler agreed to promote on this tour the Mark 1 carried the crew and ran behind the engine with Corridor connections through the tenders to the cab and the observation coach acted as a lounge and bar the two Pullmans named Isle of thanet and Lydia were not a part of the train for any touring purpose these coaches have been used extensively during World War II by General Dwight D Eisenhower they were to be brought to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin where they would be left to be displayed with the preserved A4 there James Dwight D Eisenhower after the former president himself all the coaches were repainted into special Pullman liveries to match the two Pullmans everything was set Alan pegler was ready to take the Flying Scotsman on her big two-year-long United States tour from Boston Massachusetts to Houston Texas the first year and around the west coast and finishing at Green Bay Wisconsin the second year here is the story of how he did it [Music] member 17 1969 British Railways delivered Flying Scotsman to the docks in Liverpool where the ship the saxonia awaited to collector three total ships were arranged to transport the hole consist the coaches were all loaded first onto two other ships while the saxonia was prepped to carry the engine at the crack of dawn the next day loading of the engine commenced the tenders were lifted first and finally the engine on the morning of September 18th blind scotsman's Wheels left British soil and would not touch it again for another three and a half years the trip across the Atlantic took 10 days on September 28th the saxonia reached Boston Harbor Scotsman was unloaded and touched American soil for the first time [Music] the train was shunted to the U.S army facility in Boston where everything was set up and the engine was steamed a large headlamp presented by Southern Railway was fitted to the engine's front here the consist was seen completely together here for the first time the official opening wasn't to start for another two weeks some time had been arranged to let Scotsman stretch her wheels and test the soil before beginning the tour her first run on American rails occurred on October 3rd where she ran from Boston to New London Connecticut 's first run did not start out all that well as she was greeted by some children throwing stones at her as she passed one person even fired a shot on her way back from New London the crew fired back at the attackers by throwing lumps of coal at them a beautiful case of Life imitating art huh she returned to Boston for the beginning of the tour October 8th saw the official opening the whole train was displayed at Boston South Station as the celebrations took place crowds gathered and pegler and other important people gave speeches on October 12th Scotsman began her two-month-long journey to Houston Texas [Music] her first stop was at Hartford Connecticut and she stayed there on display for a couple days the next stop was Penn Station in Newark New Jersey on route to the city the consist was passed by the then extremely modern UAC turbo train this was undoubtedly the only time this turbo train would come into contact with any sort of steam engine Scotsman was stopped in New Rochelle outside the New York City Limits the only way to get through the city was underground and steam was not allowed in the tunnels under its own power as per regulations all trains were halted and then had to be towed into the City by GG ones scotsman's fire was drowsed and gg-1 number 4857 arrived to escort the train this first towage was unfortunately something that would become a norm for the rest of the journey several of the Metropolitan States softly in Scotsman as a fire hazard and required by law that she'd have to be towed into certain areas by diesel or electrics these Towing costs would eventually pile up costs that pegler had not accounted for in his budget but more on that later Scotsman was towed into New York over Hell's Gate Bridge [Music] camera ran out of film before their descent into the tunnels so no footage of that exists unfortunately that we know of anyway under New York City they went uncoupled from the gg-1 and then she glided into Newark Penn Station in New Jersey Scotsman was on display here in New Jersey for four days on October 19th she was towed into the yard in Harrison to fire up for the next leg of the journey to Philadelphia she stood on display in Philadelphia for two days on October 23rd she arrived in Baltimore from Baltimore Scotsman was towed Again by another GG one this one number 4845 to Washington DC in D.C she'd be on display again for another two days the next big stop on the trip was Atlanta Georgia which would take some days to get to she left DC on October 28th passing through Lynchburg Virginia Salisbury North Carolina Gainesville Georgia and finally arriving at Atlanta on October 30th in Atlanta the consists would be greeted by another fellow steam engine Savannah and Atlanta number 750 departing with its own excursion along the same route to Anniston Alabama both engines were to take part in the steamorama celebration in Anniston 750 departed first and Scotsman followed behind it at a distance for unknown reasons the headlamp on Scotsman was removed for this leg of the journey the schedule had been arranged so each engine would stop at points on the journey and let the other one pass it to give the Enthusiast opportunities for photos at 1.750 ran short of steam and delayed the cavalcade Scotsman stuck a block section behind it at Aniston Scotsman met 750 again and Southern number 4501 at the steamorama festival all three engines were lined up for about two hours and approximately 10 000 people showed up to see them during that time after the festivities Scotsman continued on her way to Birmingham Alabama the next major stop was Dallas Texas from Birmingham they traveled through Meridian Mississippi Vicksburg Shreveport Louisiana Mineola Texas and finally Dallas on November 5th some Reports say November 4th as the arrival date but I have no way of confirming that she stood on display in Dallas for two days and then continued on her way south to Houston the last major stop on its 1969 Journey they arrived in Houston on November 10th and she rested on display for five days here the 1969 leg of the tour was over but they still had a lot of ground to cover from Houston the consists traveled back North through Fort Worth to Slayton the Santa Fe offered up the old Slayton roundhouse to store the whole train the train was split up here for the first time since arriving the coaches were individually split up and parked in the shed births pegler notes that this was the first time ever Scotsman was on a turntable long enough to turn her complete with her two tenders on that evening of November 18th Scotsman reversed into the shed where it would spend the remainder of winter until the 1970 tour began the next year a total of 17 States traveled over 3000 Miles covered and all destinations met on schedule the 1969 tour had gone without a hitch the tour could have ended here and the story would have a very different happier ending but pegler was insistent on getting his engine across the country 1970 had a few surprises in stock for him [Music] just like everything else good in this world scotsman's tour schedule was messed up by politics 1970 saw the voting out of Harold Wilson's labor party in Britain and entering Edward Heath's conservative party this change in political leadership would spell considerable discourse for the tour priorities changed and Harold Wilson the PM who had greenlit and helped fund the tour was no longer in power the money he had promised to fund scotsman's tour was revoked if pegler wanted to keep Scotsman touring in the U.S he'd have to basically fund it himself pegler was driven by the desire to drive his own engine across the country as the 1969 leg had proved successful enough and they still had to go to Green Bay to drop off the Pullmans he decided to carry on with the tour and to not bring Scotsman home despite the looming costs and boy oh boy did he pay for it the original announced a 1970s schedule had to be changed significantly to stay relatively within a now even tighter budget the train was meant to travel along the South into Los Angeles California and then up the West Coast from there through the north States into the Midwest and then up to Toronto for the Canadian national exhibition in September then they'd loop back and finish the U.S tour in Green Bay Wisconsin with no financial support they ditched the West Coast entirely and went straight for Green Bay first and then to their plans Canada stops after the new schedule took the train South First towards Fort Worth and then into temple from Temple they went north in to Oklahoma they stopped in Muskogee and then turned around from Muskogee they went back into Texas towards Waco in Waco the engine derailed no picks I could find of this but scotsman's rear bogey came off here due to a broken Journal she was repaired at the atsf workshops in Claiborne and then she continued on her way through Fort Worth again and then into Oklahoma then Parsons Kansas and finally arriving in Kansas City on June 21st Scotsman rested here on display for seven days until June 29th the next leg was to St Louis Missouri on this leg she passed through Mexico and then Wright City where these incredibly surreal photos of her on a modern freeway overpass were taken Scotsman arrived at St Louis on June 30th until July 6 Scotsman was kept on display in Union Station during this time her cow catcher was refitted and painted black to blend in a bit better and not stand out as much any photos of it in red were taken before St Louis and any photos of it in Black were taken after Chicago was the next stop on this leg Scotsman made a Whistle Stop in Decatur Illinois Once in Chicago she stayed there on display in Dearborn station until the 18th on July 19th she set North for her original Final Destination the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin where she would stay for the next month on display in the yard at the Museum was fellow lner engine the A4 Dwight D Eisenhower this would be the last time these two lner engines would ever meet Dwight did return to the UK for a brief period in 2012 but Scotsman was in pieces at that time Scotsman was to continue on her way up into Canada to be a part of the Canadian national Expo in Toronto the Pullman coaches Isle of thanet and Lydia reached their final destination Isle of thanet was left here to be displayed alongside the A4 however Lydia continued on the tour to be returned to Green Bay when the tour finished I could not find a concrete reason why for this Scotsman would continue on the rest of her tour without Isle of thanet on August 19th Scotsman left Green Bay and traveled back to Chicago where she was stored in 40th Street yard for a night from Chicago she went through Detroit Michigan through the Saint Claire tunnel into Ontario Canada through Hamilton and finally Toronto on August 21st she was based in spot in a yard where these post photos of her and Canadian national number 6218 were taken during her time in Toronto Scotsman was on display at the Canadian national exhibition where pegler gave cab rides to the exhibitors on the 8th she left for Ottawa passing through Belleville she stood on display in Ottawa from the 9th to the 17th at the Museum of Science and Technology here a giant Canadian flag was attached to the side of the coaches from Ottawa she went to Montreal and stood on display there near virtue station until the 27th she was met by 6218 again here in Montreal yard her 6218 another turbo train and a diesel engine were lined up for an exciting photo shoot a rare lineup of engines that will never ever happen again after Montreal she traveled through Brockville into Kingston and stayed there for two days then from Kingston she went through Toronto again to Hamilton well she was on display for a day at James Street on October 1st on October 2nd she traveled to Niagara Falls where she stayed on display until the end of the month on October 31st Scotsman would travel to Toronto for a third time to take shelter for the winter the train was split apart again with Scotsman being stored inside the old spot in a roundhouse what was to happen next no one knew with the two planned legs of the tour more or less complete and with little to no Financial backing from the British government Alan pegler found himself in a tight spot the Canada tour had not given him the returns he had hoped for that on top of a nasty divorce settlement happening back home pegler's money kept slipping through his fingers like sand bankruptcy was on the horizon for nearly a year Scotsman was left in the shed at Spadina while the crew figured out their next course of action do they eat the huge cost go bankrupt and send Scotsman home or do they somehow make a miracle happen and find a way to make up that money in the states which option do you think pegler chose if you guessed the latter you are correct pegler had heard of a festival in San Francisco called British week a city-wide celebration of all things British and the thought Flying Scotsman would be the perfect centerpiece for it maybe just maybe the this could be the grand financial success that could save the tour he decided to throw a Hail Mary pegler was all in it was to San Francisco or bust there was just one problem British week was in San Francisco and Scotsman was in Toronto preparations took some time pegler pulled some strings with friendships he had made earlier in the tour to create the route to California it wasn't until August that Scotsman was steamed up again for the final and longest leg of her journey there were no big scheduled display events for this year they had one goal and it was to get Scotsman Over the Rockies to San Francisco with less than two months to do it on August 14th she left Toronto on route to the West Coast crossing the international suspension bridge over the Niagara River back into New York they stopped in Buffalo and here the train was properly set up for the long journey across the continent circling around Lake Erie they traveled through Lorraine Ohio in September and from there continued westbound through Chicago the train was a lot less glamorous than before with only a skeleton crew aboard it including pegler's 17 year old daughter Penelope they had no money for a full crew so pegler took on whatever help he could get for cheap this meant Scotsman actually took on hitchhikers one of these hitchhikers was a young lady named Kathy Bound for Berkeley California who came aboard and became the Train's cook for free passage another hitchhiker brought on later on was a man on a bicycle named Steve Bound for Portland he hopped aboard and later helped look after the train at Fisherman's Wharf The Flying Scotsman seemed more like a circus train for hobos than it did a trade show for business on September 8th they had reached Minneapolis Minnesota by September 11th Williston North Dakota and September 13th Whitefish Montana from there the Train traversed the Flathead tunnel and then onwards through the Rocky Mountains into Spokane Washington she arrived in Spokane on September 15th from there she went through Pasco and then into Bend Oregon by September 17th she had reached Klamath Falls and then went South into California through Sacramento towards Stockton from Stockton she traversed through Altamonte pass then through Fremont and up north into Oakland on September 27th Flying Scotsman had reached Oakland California with now only a bay separating her from San Francisco San Francisco is located at the tip of a peninsula with the only rail access to it coming from the south all the way around the bay it was quicker to transport the consists there via ferry in Oakland Scotsman and the coaches were loaded onto the last Plumas car ferry and were scooted across the bay to Pier 43. Scotsman was unloaded at Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco her final destination and just in time for British week in October [Music] [Music] Scotsman was displayed here at Fisherman's Wharf for several weeks and during that time was the most popular tourist attraction in the city for a brief period it seemed pegler's crazy idea to gallivant the whole Trend to San Francisco just might pay off eventually the restaurants at Fisherman's Wharf complained about scotsman's placement on the wharf blocking their Sea View not to mention the 92 parking spots she was covering up she was moved off The Wharf to the state belt's Southern Pacific exchange yard in the South and this is when it all started to fall apart again now in a part of the city out of sight from tourists Scotchman was no longer such the big tourist attraction she was when she first arrived the money quickly disappeared for all intents and purposes pegler had achieved his dream of driving his engine from coast to coast across the United States he had followed through on his initial promise and then some however he did it at a huge huge cost the 1971 tour ended on a dismal note as pegler officially ran out of money penniless in San Francisco with a total debt of 132 000 pounds to rent in towage costs the poor man had no choice but to leave his engine for the time being and find work to pay off his dues come 1972 Flying Scotsman was still in San Francisco while pegler was away trying to pay the bills pegler did return to San Francisco in March and traversed Scotsman along the state belts giving passenger runs hauling only the Mark 1 Lydia and the observation coach during this brief time of giving tourist trips Scotsman derailed again on March 25th this time at a set of points not her finest moment these Embarcadero excursions would only last for so long of course as the lawyers came knocking asking for their money money that pegler did not have Alan pegler was officially declared bankrupt by the high court on August 13th pegler had Scotsman and the train removed from San Francisco she was ferried back to Oakland and from there was towed to the sharp Army Depot in Lathrop south of Stockton pegler had managed to strike a deal to store her there out of sight until further notice to keep her safe from Liquidators here is a photo of her in storage in Lathrop left outside exposed to the elements note the decaying paint but try as he might to hide her from the inevitable the inevitable eventually happened the engine was liquidated from pegler Alan pegler had lost the Flying Scotsman [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the engine he had saved from the Cutter's torch 10 years prior was now in the hands of the United States government with its future again uncertain blind Scotsman sat in storage in Lathrop California with no owner when news reached Britain the response was dower the overwhelming fear of many were a big company like Disney purchasing the engine and turning her into an exhibit at Disneyland never to return to Britain it seemed those that initially said that if Flying Scotsman were to go to America she would never return were about to be proven right [Music] this is where a wealthy British businessman named William McAlpine bill for short comes into our story bill was the director of the McAlpine Construction Company he had an ad duration for steam engines and it started collecting his own in the 60s bill was made aware of flying scotsman's play after being approached by a powerful committee to join them in a rescue attempt what they needed was money and Bill had it in December George Hinchcliffe the operational manager for Flying Scotsman was tasked to go to the states to see what was needed exactly to get her home in January 1973 hinchcliff was present in California working out a deal while the railroad attorneys were preparing a writ of attachment for the engine to put it up for sale to pay off the rental fee debts on this day January 2nd Hinchcliffe phoned McAlpine with the exact number needed to pay off the debts the galpine agreed and wrote the check Dwyane Scotsman was saved and Now official under proud ownership of Bill McAlpine the nation was relieved Flying Scotsman was moved out of storage in Lathrop and towed back to the Oakland dockyards in secrecy as some creditors were still left unpaid at this point including the San Francisco Port Authority she was a part of a freight train of boxcars hauled by three diesels funnily enough they managed to transport Scotsman without Gathering public attention it was the moving of a giant floating crane across San Francisco Bay that got a local reporter investigating the crew managed to persuade him from filing the story of scotsman's move until her ship was outside U.S Waters with a very liberal supply of Scotch whiskey everything in this world has a price on January 17th she was lifted off American soil for the final time she was first loaded onto a barge and then scooted across the bay to the deeper waters of Oakland docks where her ship home the California star awaited her welded to the ship's Deck with her two tenders on either side of her Scotsman 8 000 mile journey home command the ship coming from the west coast of course journeyed through the Panama Canal the lion Scotsman would be the first ever steam locomotive to travel through it here we see Flying Scotsman off the shores of Panama a once in a lifetime sight never to be repeated again the California star arrived in Liverpool to the exact dock fly in Scotsman had been loaded three and a half years before in typical England fashion it started to snow as the unloading began over 15 000 miles traveled on American soil and three and a half years later Flying Scotsman touched down onto British soil never to leave it again except for the one time that she did but that's another story being left outside in storage exposed to the California Sun and rain and the grueling sea Crossing had law left their marks and Scotsman arrived back to England in a rather sorry State she was scheduled to be restored at Darby and British Railways instructed that she be taken there by a low loader Bill McAlpine disagreed and insisted that if she was fit to run then she can go there under her own Steam and so she did the celebration was Indescribable over a hundred thousand people turned up to the stations and line sides to see her running light engine to Darby the lion Scotsman was home at last and the nation couldn't have been happier at Darby Flying Scotsman was returned to former glory with new paint and it wasn't long before she was back on the main line Scotsman was back where she belonged in the UK hauling rail tours on the mainline and she still continues to do so to this very day however our story is not over first of all what happened to the coaches you may have noticed that in the footage of Scotsman coming home the coaches are nowhere in sight and you'd be right the coaches did not return to the UK McAlpine only paid for the engine the coaches were not essential and were all left in California so where did they go well some had better Fates than others Lydia did eventually return to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay where she and Isle of fanet were kept on display with Dwight D Eisenhower in 2000 Isle of thanet was repurposed by the UK and returned back to England for restoration she is still around and currently in storage at carnforth Lydia also came back to the UK the following year in 2001. she is still around as well and currently at home on the West Somerset Railway the brakes and the Mark 1 all had their own interesting Adventures first of all one of the brakes was detached from the train at some point on the run to San Francisco in 1971 in all footage I found of Scotsman traveling to California it's with only four of its five exhibition cars I could not find any information on why or where the coach was detached from the train so if anyone has any information on that please get in contact it may still be around and we have no idea the four remaining breaks on the Mark 1 all made it to Lathrop they became property of California state and were all sold off to the highest bidders four of the sets including the Mark 1 were all sent down to Southern California and became a part of a train themed restaurant called Victoria Station at Universal CityWalk they were all repainted into very colorful liveries and converted into dining cars the bricks all have in New false Windows cut out on their sides Victoria's station went out of business in 1993. I was unable to find any more information on what happened to the coaches after this but I can only assume that they were sold off for scrap shame the last break was so build up for scrap in California with again no information on it the last coach the Devon Bell observation coach stayed in San Francisco where it was turned into an extension of an office building it was a storage facility at one point and an office and a cafe it remained there planted in its spot for nearly 40 years until the swanage railway in England purchased it in 2007 the coach was pulled up and shipped back to England where it was restored back to working order I being a native San Franciscan had no idea this was even here and never thought to go seek it out however I did find the build in it was attached to a couple years ago here you can see the area the coach was planted has been built over by a concrete stepway lion Scotsman visited the swanage in early 2019 where she was reunited with the coach for the first time in 45 years [Music] and lastly whatever happened to our dreamer Alan pegler well poor Allen was left penniless in San Francisco at the end of 1971 and had to find work elsewhere to scrape up whatever money he could to pay off that massive debt he owed he got a job with p o cruises out of San Francisco and spent two seasons on a ship where he gave public talks about British Enterprises and Railways luckily McAlpine managed to swoop in and cover the dues and pegler returned home to the UK sometime after he remained alive and well for several years and was still around in 1999 to see if blind Scotsman returned to steam again he even filmed the intros to the documentaries on this Flying Scotsman DVD box set of which I got a lot of the footage and information for this video from Alan pegler died peacefully in 2012. he was cremated with the wish that his ashes be thrown into scotsman's Firebox on the run from King's cross to York this tour called the farewell Alan pegler tour occurred on October 13 2018 a tour that I had the pleasure of being on board for foreign the story of flying scotsman's USA tour is one of the most fascinating stories in all of Railway history to me it happened at just the right time in both British and American history seeing the very British Flying Scotsman in photos of an era of pure Americana that doesn't exist anymore it was such a huge plight and Incredibly complicated and unrealistic undertaking however made possible because of one man's desire to drive his engine on foreign medals from coast to coast it took him three years all of his money and the loss of the engine itself to do it but God damn it he made it happen and he had the adventure of a lifetime doing so I'm not really got no money left at all by this time I mean it was in time and I unfold I mean the fact that I lost all the money because I thought it was having I thought I was having a ball driving the blooming engine all around North America which is absolutely true and I knew exactly what I would do and I simply took the view this is the once in a lifetime chance the man doesn't seem phased in the slightest recollecting the time he filed for bankruptcy and lost the engine he poured everything into to him it was all worth it he was a man that lived life to the fullest I have a lot of respect for Alan pegler and his go get him dreamer attitude it's very inspirational to me if it weren't for him blind Scotsman wouldn't be around today we all owe him a lot for that we need more Allen peglers in this world people that aren't afraid to take the biggest of chances I think a lot of people for the most part view scotsman's United States tour with disdain and understandably so she did almost get lost there but to me it is the most interesting thing to happen in this famous engine's history as someone who has always been fascinated by this tour for years it has been so satisfying for me to compile everything for this video and finally tell its full story there are still several gaps of information that are missing about this tour so if anyone watching has any more to add to the conversation please tag me on Twitter thank you all so much for watching and I'll see you all in the next one

Channel: The Unlucky Tug

Views: 99,937

Keywords: flying scotsman, usa tour, american tour, us tour, usa, us, lner, a3, a1, alan peglar, william mcalpine, san francisco, boston, chicago, green bay, gordon, thomas friends, thomas the tank engine, thomas the train, thomas

Id: oTgcSr-EkMQ

Length: 39min 41sec (2381 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 27 2023