There were a number of reasons for this. Firstly, when I arrived in the UK, the engine was still undergoing restoration (which had initially been botched), and it was not until February 2016 that it was finally back in working order. I'd seen it, briefly (see Fudgn Scotched it), on its way to run its first trip, and later at the National Railway Museum in York (see Yorkshire). But getting to ride behind it? That was another story. Why? well, Flying Scotsman happens to be the world's most famous steam locomotive. Which means its very popular. Its first run, in February 2016, was only behind the engine from Kings Cross to York (with a diesel hauling the return) and for the privilege of being on board that first trip you had to either be a celebrity, or pay £450. £450 is insane, for what the trip was even by UK standards! Every trip was more expensive than comparable trips behind other steam locomotives, but most importantly they all sold out super quick. Not helping for 2016 was most trips were being run during the summer, after we'd moved to Berlin and we didn't know if we would succeed in Germany to be able to stick around for a trip, let alone afford the expense of doing one. Having succeeded in Germany, my aim was to them try and do it in 2017. By the time I saw that there were tickets on sale and was in a position to look at them, they were sold out!
With us leaving Germany in spring 2018, and Flying Scotsman unlikely to start running before the summer, any opportunity looked bleak. But there was something up our sleeve - we were travelling around Europe for 2 months after leaving Germany and we'd arrive in the UK in June. If there was a trip during the 3 weeks we were in the country, and we were alerted to it in enough time, we might have a chance. I'd signed up to the relevant websites to get the emails for ticket pre-sales, I have to say, I kept an eye on things fairly closely - and sure enough I get wind of some potential trips.
Tickets became available, I very quickly narrowed in on some excursions from London and after some discussion with Sasha I booked them. The excursion would be ideal, as it would only be a half day and accordingly it cost a lot less than we'd been steeling ourselves to expect. It did however have a profound effect on our travel plans in order to accommodate it. Originally we'd been looking at flying to Edinburgh, going around the Isle of Skye and then working our way south through the UK to London and then to Southampton to catch the Queen Mary 2. But the Flying Scotsman excursion was on the 5th June - right at the beginning of our time in the UK. As it happened, Denise and David were still going to be away from Scotland at that time on Denise's birthday holiday in Italy and since we wanted to go to Scotland to see them, it made a lot of sense to instead flip the order on its head and start in London, work our way north through the UK to Edinburgh and Skye before zipping back to London and then Southampton. So it worked out!
And this is how we came to be standing at London's Paddington Station about 11am, almost a full hour before the train's departure trying to find a good spot to watch and photograph the arrival of the Flying Scotsman and its train.