The National Railway Museum has announced that, after a busy centenary year in 2023, Flying Scotsman will start 2024 on static display at the museum in York.
Credit: Steve Morgan
After travelling 10,000 miles across the UK as part of its centenary celebrations, Flying Scotsman will return to the National Railway Museum for the first part of 2024, before resuming rail tours later in the year.
The locomotive will be displayed in the Flying Scotsman Story exhibition at the York-based museum from Friday 26 January until the summer.
Then Flying Scotsman will travel to Locomotion in Shildon, where it will go on public display.
A competitive tender to appoint the next custodian for Flying Scotsman to operate and maintain the locomotive will launch with an Invitation to Tender (ITT) published online in the coming weeks.
The tender is expected to be awarded in late spring 2024, and once the custodian is appointed, Flying Scotsman will resume a programme of rail tours in the autumn.
Judith McNicol, Director of the National Railway Museum said: “After an amazing centenary year which has seen Flying Scotsman delight and inspire thousands of people, I can announce our plans to bring the world-famous locomotive to the National Railway Museum in York while we begin the search for its next custodian.
“Our intention is to keep Flying Scotsman main line operational and once the new custodian is appointed, we will create a calendar of activity that includes main line tours, visits to heritage railways and our museums.”
The tender to find Flying Scotsman’s custodian will be open to all and published online here: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/sciencemuseumgroup.