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World

Legendary Flying Scotsman Rides the Rails Again

The famous "Flying Scotsman" is rolling again more than 80 years after it became the first locomotive to reach 100 miles an hour.

/ 9 PHOTOS
Image: The Flying Scotsman steam engine passes over a viaduct as it leaves East Lancashire Railway in Bury

The Flying Scotsman steam engine passes over a viaduct as it leaves East Lancashire Railway in Bury, Britain, on Jan. 8, 2016. After a decade of restoration and over 80 years since it became the first locomotive to reach 100 miles an hour, the engine made a series of short test runs on Friday, ahead of a program of heritage journeys this year on Britain's main lines.
— DARREN STAPLES / Reuters
Image: The Flying Scotsman Takes To The Tracks Under Steam After An Extensive Restoration

The Flying Scotsman pulls carriages during a test run along the East Lancashire line. The engine has toured both the United States and Australia since it was retired from service.
— Nigel Roddis / Getty Images
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Restoration of the train has cost some 4 million pounds ($6 million), although the engine will not be repainted in its traditional green livery until next month. 

— MCPIX/REX/Shutterstock / AP
Image: The Flying Scotsman Takes To The Tracks Under Steam After An Extensive Restoration

Engineers chat during the test run along the East Lancashire line. Built in 1923, the engine hauled the first ever non-stop service between London and Edinburgh in 1928, taking eight hours. It set the record-breaking 100 mph mark in 1934.
— Nigel Roddis / Getty Images
Image: The Flying Scotsman Takes To The Tracks Under Steam After An Extensive Restoration

The Flying Scotsman pulls carriages during a test run. 

After it was retired in 1963 as the age of steam in Britain drew to a close, the Scotsman was sold to a businessman who took it on a tour of the United States where it was fitted with a bell, headlamp and cow-catcher. 

 

— Nigel Roddis / Getty Images
Image: The Flying Scotsman Takes To The Tracks Under Steam After An Extensive Restoration

Engineers chat on the back-up tender during the test run. 

When people across four continents were asked to name five trains or engines they had heard of in 2015, the Flying Scotsman topped the list.  

 

 

 

— Nigel Roddis / Getty Images
Image: A man walks past the carriages pulled by The Flying Scotsman steam engine at East Lancashire Railway in Bury

A man passes carriages pulled by The Flying Scotsman at East Lancashire Railway station in Bury.
— DARREN STAPLES / Reuters
Image: The Flying Scotsman Takes To The Tracks Under Steam After An Extensive Restoration

The Flying Scotsman pulls carriages on a test run along the East Lancashire line.
— Nigel Roddis / Getty Images
Image: Flying Scotsman

The Flying Scotsman pulls carriages along the East Lancashire line.
— Peter Byrne / PA Wire/PA Images
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