Flying Scotsman fury – trainspotters fuming after view blocked by …
Cameras were at the ready as the Flying Scotsman pulled into a Midlands railway station. But the eager rail enthusiasts huddled on the platform were left disappointed as their view of the the world-famous locomotive was blocked.
A domestic train at the next platform restricted the view of the iconic train when it stopped off at Nuneaton Railway Station on Saturday morning (June 10). It called in just before 9.40am as part of its steam-powered journey from London Euston to Chester.
Steve Creagh told CoventryLive[1] the he was disappointed by the experience, as were many others. “It’s an absolute shocker,” he said.
“A steward said the other train would be moving on in a few minutes, but it never did. The Flying Scotsman[2] passed out before the domestic train so hardly anyone got to see it.”
The 60-year-old said he couldn’t believe what had happened, adding: “You’d have thought the organisers would have made sure no other trains pulled up at the same time. They knew what time the Flying Scotsman was arriving.”
He said around 80 per cent of the people who had been asked to congregate on platform one were unable to see past the other train. “Only those who were right at the far end would have seen anything of it,” he said.
“It was just so disappointing. Luckily for me I hadn’t travelled far, but some of those at the station had probably made a big effort to be there. I love trains and train travel, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a ‘nerd’ or a ‘trainspotter’. I just thought this was an occasion worth jumping in the car for to get pictures for posterity. Obviously that wasn’t possible in the end. I can’t get my head around it.”
In a bid to get a better look, Steve tried to make his way down to platform two, but was told access was restricted to people with tickets for trains arriving there. After scrambling to a different vantage point, he managed to see the train trundling off in the distance, leaving a trail of steam in its wake.
“There were people there with really expensive cameras intending on taking lots of great pictures,” he added. “But they got nothing. It’s extraordinary, really.”
“The other train was not supposed to be there,” Nigel Branston said. “A lot of people there were very unhappy.” The National Railway Museum, owners of the Flying Scotsman, and West Midlands Trains have been approached for comment.
References
- ^ CoventryLive (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
- ^ The Flying Scotsman (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Exact flightpath route Red Arrows will take across skies today (www.birminghammail.co.uk)