Map of the Southern Pacific Cotton Belt, published by Rand McNally and Company, with a hand drawn line in pencil and red ink showing the tour route taken across the United States by LNER A1/A3 Flying Scotsman No. 4472 in 1971.

In January 1963 Alan Pegler bought Flying Scotsman, which was about to be retired from British Railways and ran its last train for BR on 14 January 1963. As part of the deal, Pegler negotiated a complete overhaul of the locomotive. It was converted back to single chimney condition and repainted to London & North Eastern Railway livery. The tender was exchanged for a corridor type, and an agreement made that enabled it to run on the main line.

In 1969 Flying Scotsman headed for America, travelling around the country from Boston to San Francisco. The tour in the first year broke even, but the second lost money. To try to balance the books Pegler arranged for the train to travel to San Francisco. Trading was good but sponsorship didn’t materialise. Alan Pegler was forced into bankruptcy and Scotsman was stranded in the USA until William McAlpine heard about the situation and promptly put together a rescue plan, resulting in Flying Scotsman returning to the UK in 1973.