THE age of steam is to make a return to the Capital this weekend to help celebrate a historic speed record set by an engine designed by an Edinburgh engineer.
Enthusiasts will tomorrow welcome the arrival of the Union of South Africa, the sister locomotive of the Mallard, the world's fastest steam engine.
The specially-restored train will carry 460 passengers to mark the 70th anniversary of the Mallar
d achieving 126mph on July 3, 1938 – a record that stands today.
It will be the first time an A4 class engine has travelled between London and Edinburgh since 1962.
Sir Nigel Gresley, the chief engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway, designed both the Union of South Africa and the Mallard, as well as the Flying Scotsman.
Kathryn Macdonald of VisitScotland said: "It's fantastic to see this locomotive return to Edinburgh to commemorate not just the world speed record but also the birthplace of its designer."
The train will arrive at Waverley at 8.10pm and stay overnight before leaving for London via York at 9.03am on Sunday.
Before it leaves there will be a short ceremony at 34 Dublin Street where Sir Nigel was born in 1876.
The Union entered service in 1937. It offered passengers an extremely luxurious way of travelling, with an onboard barber and a cinema coach.
The Union's trip to Edinburgh has been organised by Guildford-based company Steam Dreams.
Managing director Graeme Bunker said: "We were amazed with the enthusiastic response from across the country and overseas. This trip was our fastest-selling of all time and we quickly had a long waiting list."
Six A4 trains survive, including the Mallard, housed at York's National Railway Museum. Two of the others are in museums in North America.
The Union, the Sir Nigel Gresley and the Bittern all survive as functioning trains and are owned by various English railway societies.
The journey will begin in London early tomorrow morning when the Sir Nigel Gresley leaves Kings Cross. It will then meet up with the Union, Mallard and Bittern.
The Union will then take passengers to Edinburgh and back to York on Sunday morning.
The final leg of the journey will see the Bittern carry the passengers back to London from York.
After his birth in Edinburgh, Sir Nigel moved to Derbyshire and went to Marlborough College.
He worked for a number of railway companies before being made chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway from 1923 to 1941.
The full article contains 425 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
