***SOLD OUT***

Scotsman & Union of South Africa on the Western! An evening with 'A3' & A4 Classes at Didcot Railway Centre, Monday 28th August 2017

About this event

We are delighted to be able to offer you an evening of photography with two of preservation's highest profile steam locomotives, 'A3' Class 4-6-2 No.60103 Flying Scotsman and 'A4' Class Union of South Africa. The Pacific's are visiting Didcot Railway Centre for the August 2017 holiday period and working with the Centre we have been given the opportunity to run another of our increasingly popular evening shoots featuring these iconic steam locomotives.

Our event will run between 18.30 and 23.00 and will include the most popular features of our evenings at Didcot with cameos outside the shed, inside the shed and on the turntable. Appropriately dressed re-enactors and staff will be on hand to add colour and life to the scenes and we will ensure that participants move around so that everyone has the chance to get the shots that they want. The cafe will be open for the earlier part of the evening so catering will not be a problem. The inside of the shed at Didcot presents one of the most atmospheric recreations of a steam era motive power depots in the country and we intend to make full use of this ambiance during our exciting event.

LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman is a Pacific steam locomotive built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express East Coast Main Line trains by the LNER and its successors, British Railways Eastern and North-Eastern Regions, notably on the London to Edinburgh Flying Scotsman train service after which it was named. The locomotive set two world records for steam traction, becoming the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h) on 30 November 1934, and then setting a record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive when it ran 422 miles (679 km) on 8 August 1989 while in Australia. Retired from regular service in 1963 after covering 2.08 million miles, Flying Scotsman gained considerable fame in preservation under the ownership of, successively, Alan Pegler, William McAlpine, Tony Marchington, and finally the National Railway Museum (NRM). As well as hauling enthusiast specials in the United Kingdom, the locomotive toured extensively in the United States and Canada from 1969 until 1973 and Australia in 1988/89 Flying Scotsman was been described as the world's most famous steam locomotive.  

Returning to steam in 2016 Flying Scotsman has won the hearts of the nation drawing crowds wherever she appears. So for the first time since returning to steam you can now catch this iconic steam locomotive in probably the most authentic location in the UK when it comes to recreating a steam shed environment and with only and a small select group of photographers. 

Union of South Africa is another icon of Eastern Region steam and still a regular on the mainline all over the UK. With her now in the twilight of her boiler certificate it is all the more poignant that she should be joining us at Didcot this August Bank Holiday as it is widely expected that when her current certificate expires she will not be returned to steam for the foreseeable future, with her owner choosing to make her the centre piece of a private museum. 

With both locos now carrying the later British Railways livery, (Brunswick Green) and the 1960's Tender Crest they are perfectly matched for this 'on shed shoot' and will potentially create some of the steam images of 2017. A line up that hasn't been seen in a very longtime! 

With the news of Union of South Africa joining Flying Scotsman we expect the last few tickets to be snapped up as we get closer to the event so we recommend making an early booking to avoid disappointment.

Event cost £95.00 per person, this includes a £20.00 additional fee to help cover the extra costs of bringing No.9 to Didcot Railway Centre. 

Images courtesy of Robin Coombes  Peter Zabek

Event requirements