The widow of the baronet widely regarded as the "man who saved the Flying Scotsman" has claimed that her late husband is being “erased” from the history of the train.
Lady Judith McAlpine, the widow of Sir William McAlpine, said that despite bringing the Flying Scotsman back to England in the 1970s, her husband now hardly gets a mention in literature about the train.
She believes he is also not given appropriate prominence in the museum which owns the engine.
Speaking to The Telegraph, she said: “I’ve seen quite a bit of blurb around the Scotsman’s centenary, and I haven’t seen anything to do with my husband saving her, which of course he did."
Lady Judith, who also confirmed that she hadn’t been invited to any of the official centenary events, said she felt it was unfair his role was being ignored despite him “pouring his heart and soul, and a lot of money” into the engine.
Friday marked 100 years since the Flying Scotsman’s came into service. The steam train is responsible for breaking a number of records, including providing the first service to run non-stop between London and Edinburgh in 1928. It also became the UK’s first locomotive to reach 100mph in 1934.
Sir William, a businessman, is often regarded as “the man who saved the Flying Scotsman” after he bought the locomotive for £25,000, days before it was set to be purchased by an American firm.
He then brought the train, which had been making passenger trips in San Francisco, back to England, before paying thousands to restore it to a condition where it could take passengers across Britain’s mainline for another two decades. He eventually had to sell it in 1996, with the National Railway Museum buying it in 2004.
Sir William was the brother of Lord McAlpine, the businessman and adviser to Margaret Thatcher. He died in 2018.
Lady Jane has now criticised the museum for its lack of acknowledgement of Sir William’s key role in its history.
She said: “I went to the National Railway Museum and had a look at the way they were displaying info about the Scotsman, and it included absolute nonsense about my husband’s part in it all.”
After her visit she said that she had written to the museum to ask why there was so little in the literature about her husband’s role in saving it for the nation.
She said: “The museum wrote back to me and said that we are not interested in the people who owned her, we are interested in her as The People’s Engine.
“I said she wouldn’t be The People’s Engine, if she hadn’t been brought back from America.”
As part of the Scotsman’s centenary celebrations on Friday, there was a special event at Edinburgh Waverley station, with dancing and poetry.
Simon Armitage, the poet laureate, was also commissioned to write a poem about the engine for its 100th birthday, while the Royal Mint has brought out a commemorative coin to mark the occasion.
The 70ft locomotive retired from regular service in 1963 after covering 2m miles but has continued to transport leisure travellers and enthusiasts.
The train will spend the rest of the year travelling across the country to be exhibited in various stations and for commemorative trips.
The National Railway Museum will also hold a number of events celebrating the engine, including "100 Years, 100 Voices", which explores the stories of people whose lives have been touched by the line.
National Railway Museum spokesperson: "A part of the centenary programme - and specifically the exhibition Flying Scotsman: 100 Years, 100 Voices in York - the Museum is honouring people with a connection to Flying Scotsman from all walks of life and featuring their stories.
"This includes a specially commissioned film that remembers previous owners, including Sir William McAlpine and Alan Pegler. The Museum paid tribute to their important contributions towards saving Flying Scotsman for the nation during a speech today by Dame Mary Archer at the centenary event in Edinburgh."
In 2019, following Sir William McAlpine’s death, the Museum organised a mainline rail tour in his honour and renamed a locomotive in his memory.
