8mm amateur film 'Flying Scotsman to Liverpool' by Ralph Maxwell Rhodes

Original Super 8 colour silent film, footage shot by Ralph Maxwell Rhodes in September 1969 of the journey of the Flying Scotsman locomotive to Liverpool, before its departure by sea for the United States, from Liverpool harbour. Footage filmed from carriage window of the train pulled by Flying Scotsman, shots of Pullman carriage with the United Kingdom and the United States flags. 50 feet reel.

In 1969 Flying Scotsman headed to the United States on a tour intended to promote British exports. The tour broke even in its first year, but the second lost money. In a bid to balance the books, Alan Pegler, then owner of the locomotive, arranged for the train to travel to San Francisco. The trip worked well operationally but was a financial disaster. Alan Pegler was forced into bankruptcy and Scotsman was stranded in the USA. However, in 1973 Flying Scotsman was brought back to the UK after William McAlpine heard about the situation in the USA. He promptly put together a rescue plan, paying off the creditors and buying the locomotive.

Ralph Maxwell Rhodes, who worked for British Railways in Doncaster, accompanied Flying Scotsman on his journey to the USA, filming the locomotive last trip to Liverpool before its departure for the United States by sea, its arrival and unloading at Boston, and some of its American tour in 1969.