The Flying Scotsman will make it to Aberdeen after narrowly avoiding the travel chaos caused by flooding over the weekend.
The historic locomotive had been locked up in Aviemore, one of the worst affected areas by heavy rain, after a shunting incident just over a week ago.
The nearby River Spey burst its banks on Sunday, sending floodwater streaming into the surrounding area, including the railway line.
Scheduled passenger services were suspended between Perth and Inverness due to flooding on the line, which is still the case as of Monday.
However, the Flying Scotsman made a lucky escape, having narrowly avoided the travel chaos that remains ongoing across parts of the rail network.
As the adverse weather closed in on Saturday, the beloved steam engine was re-routed from the Highland Main Line onto the East Coast line.
Due to it being in Fife rather than Aviemore, the locomotive’s operators confirmed the Aberdeen Flyer service between Edinburgh and Aberdeen will go ahead as planned tomorrow.
Flying Scotsman will come to Aberdeen as planned
The Flying Scotsman will also be welcomed into Ferryhill train yard where it will be greeted by crowds of railway enthusiasts.
A spokeswoman for The Railway Touring Company explained the recent change of plans.
She said: “On Saturday The Highland Express, which was due to be hauled from Edinburgh to Inverness by diesel and then by Flying Scotsman on the return, could not run on the Highland Line as planned as the line was closed due to the adverse weather conditions.”
The spokeswoman continued: “We were able to work with Network Rail through Friday evening to re-route this train from Edinburgh to Aberdeen hauled by Flying Scotsman on both the outward and return.
“On Sunday both The Fife Circulars in the morning and the afternoon hauled by Flying Scotsman were able to run.”
It isn’t the first time the visit was faced with a potential setback as the famous engine was involved in a low-speed collision while in Aviemore on September 29.
The Flying Scotsman collided with carriages owned by Belmond and operated as part of the Royal Scotsman luxury train experience.
The locomotive underwent a thorough inspection by mechanical engineers before it resumed operation.
Travel disruption as trains cancelled and roads closed following weekend of torrential rain.
Gallery: Shocking photos show extent of flooding across north and north-east.
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