VR Flying Scotsman experience in York takes you back in time to the heyday of the iconic locomotive

Travel

An immersive new experience has opened in York, and it’s amazing. The Flying Scotsman Virtual Reality (VR) experience at the National Railway Museum celebrates 100 years of the world’s most famous locomotive. The digital experience is a 360-degree animated journey that’s fun, educational and wonderfully detailed, thanks to Lidar scans (light detection and range) of the iconic locomotive.

“We scanned every last bolt,” says Simon Reveley, CEO of Figment productionsa studio specializing in immersive attractions.

“I came to this knowing very little about Flying Scotsman,” Reveley added over a taste of the experience.

“Now my team are world experts!”

Even before you’ve squeezed into the virtual reality headset, you’ve already been transported back in time by an adorable projection of historic passengers walking past the window doors that will soon swing open. In reality, the doors open onto a nondescript plywood wall, but with your headset on you’re invited to step forward into the digitally recreated 1928 King’s Cross station, complete with period steam. Your guide in this virtual world is Sir Nigel Gresley, designer of the Flying Scotsman.

A computer-generated image from the National Railway Museum’s Flying Scotsman VR of the iconic locomotive on display at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley

A CGI rendering from the Flying Scotsman VR of LNER Chief Mechanical Engineer Sir Nigel Gresley, designer of the famous locomotive and who is the main guide in the VR experience

Gresley takes you through the history of the locomotive, from its first PR outing at the Empire Exhibition in Wembley Park in 1924 to its current incarnation as a restored and still working engine.

There’s also a model railway-style glimpse of the locomotive’s ill-fated tour of 1960s America, showing how British Rail’s Flying Scotsman differed markedly from its 1920s original.

You are also miniaturized to fly through the inside of the locomotive and learn about steam power as you go through the locomotive’s red hot boiler and firebox.

Vibrating panels, heat lamps and fans that mimic the wind provide multi-sensory stimulation as you gently spin through the virtual world. It took the better part of a year for Figment and partner company Sarner International to bring this world to life.

The most thrilling part of the experience is a faithful recreation of one Speed test from the 1930s next to a speedboat and a de Havilland Puss Moth monoplane. A pigeon swoops dangerously close to your head and you instinctively lean to the side. (This speed trial is based on a real race captured on a Pathé film, one of several historic PR stunts LNER staged to promote its propulsive rail service along the East Coast Main Line.)

Carlton writes: ‘The most thrilling part of the experience is a faithful reproduction of a 1930s speed trial next to a speedboat and a de Havilland Puss Moth monoplane’

A family enjoys the National Railway Museum Flying Scotsman VR experience

Visitors can explore the inside of the Flying Scotsman in the VR experience. “We scanned every last bolt,” says Simon Reveley, CEO of Figment Productions, the studio behind the attraction

The Flying Scotsman VR experience is suitable for ages eight and up, with three groups of four people per ten-minute session. Each group of four will get the same animation projected into their VR headsets, but depending on where you are within the group, you’ll have a slightly different perspective. For example, those on the left can peek down the side of the Flying Scotsman during the speed trial. But there are realistic views no matter where you are. The animation designers recommend rotating throughout the experience to take in as much of the 360-degree world as possible.

“Surrender to the moment,” Reveley of Figment advised.

‘Look around you. This is a 360 degree experience. Wherever you turn your head, there’s something new to see.’

The experience begins around 1928 at King’s Cross station and turns into the celebration of the railway’s centenary at the British Empire Exhibition held in Wembley Park, London in 1924 and 1925. chosen to become The Flying Scotsman. It quickly became a high-speed rolling advertisement for the newly formed LNER, one of the ‘big four’ railway companies of the time.

A side view of the Flying Scotsman temporarily parked at the National Railway Museum, York

The Flying Scotsman on display at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley

In 1934, the Flying Scotsman became the first steam train to break the 100 mph mark. The image above shows the controls

Ed Cookson, director of Sarner International, left, and Simon Reveley, CEO of Figment Productions, co-developers of the Flying Scotsman VR

The Flying Scotsman at King’s Cross in October 2022

The bike regularly broke downhill speed records through Lincolnshire. In 1934, the Flying Scotsman became the first steam train to break 100 mph, a publicity grab. Speed was measured in a dynamometer car, a laboratory on wheels built in 1906 and packed with delicate instruments. This carriage is a permanent fixture in the National Railway Museum and shines in the virtual world.

The Flying Scotsman is a working train that will blast through 15 national tours by 2023. It rests in the National Railway Museum until the end of April. It’s great to see the bike up close before (or after) participating in the Flying Scotsman VR Experience.

Flying Scotsman was built at Doncaster in February 1923 as an A1 class locomotive and converted to an A3 class in 1947. It continued to work until 1963. British Rail planned to scrap the Flying Scotsman, but instead it was bought by a train enthusiast and boarded. on a world tour (which bankrupted the businessman).

During the Flying Scotsman’s original service life it underwent several changes of boiler, wheels, cylinders and tenders. Restorers believe that only two-thirds of the rear frames plus some of the cab sides are completely original. The smoke deflectors visible at the front of the current locomotive divide enthusiasts. Purists don’t like them because they weren’t part of the original engine, but without them it would be nearly impossible for the engine to continue running on today’s rail network.

Many of the various changes to the Flying Scotsman’s shape, color and equipment over the years can be seen in the VR movie, and so both picky Flying Scotsman fans and those who get a kick out of (virtual) steam can.

TRAVEL FACTS

The Flying Scotsman VR Experience is housed in two sea containers at the rear of the free entrance National Railway Museum. The experience costs £7 per person. Users must be at least 1.2 meters tall. Booking in advance is recommended. Subtitles or an audio description can be provided for those who ask, and the height of the experience is such that wheelchair users get the same visuals as those standing. The VR headset fits over glasses, but varifocal lens wearers may need to nudge the device to find a sharp point.

The VR headset tracks where a user’s hands are and they can appear in the virtual world albeit disconnected from the rest of the body. Others in the group are represented by neon colored blob-like figures.

The National Railway Museum is a cavernous collection of trains and railway memorabilia known locally as ‘Yorkshire’s largest umbrella’.

Flying Scotsman VR was commissioned by the Science Museum Group and developed in collaboration with Figment Productions and Sarner International. The experience is staged to coincide with the celebration of the Flying Scotsman’s centenary and is therefore valid for one year.

The National Railway Museum in York has the world’s largest collection of railway objects. The collection includes more than 260 locomotives, rolling stock, coins, medals, railway uniforms and equipment, documents, artwork and photographs. The National Railway Museum is part of the Science Museum Group, along with the Science Museum in London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford and Locomotion in Shildon.

Carlton Reid traveled with a LNER service along the East Coast Main Line.