A Kent man has risked missing the birth of his child so he could catch a glimpse of the Flying Scotsman.
The famous steam train visited Kent yesterday, which was its first visit in 50 years. Many were keen to see the legendary train in action, but not as much as Stephen from Orpington, who said his wife went into labour yesterday morning, but he had to see the train with his train-mad son.
Stephen lists being a commercial drone operator amongst other interests, so just could not miss the chance to get some great video footage with his drone.
More than 450 railway enthusiasts paid up to £189 per person for the chance to ride on board a rail tour of Kent hauled by the locomotive on its visit to the county.
The flying scotsman was the first steam train to reach 100mph in 1934
The train departed from London Victoria, visiting Canterbury West before setting off for a circular tour of the coastal line through Dover and Folkestone, returning to the cathedral city via Kent’s historic railway engineering hub at Ashford.
This was its penultimate trip before an overhaul in time for next year’s centenary celebrations.
And as for our father-to-be, luckily he made it back to the hospital before the new baby arrived, with Stephen adding “She is still going! Didn’t even notice me gone.”
