RAIL lovers are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the world’s most famous steam train, the Flying Scotsman as it marks its centenary year with a trip to south Devon.

The nation’s best-known locomotive will be travelling through Dawlish to Newton Abbot as part of a scenic trip from Bristol to Cornwall on Sunday.

Exact timings of the journey are being kept under wraps to avoid over crowding at popular vantage points along the route. 

But it is due to depart Exeter St David’s at about 11.30am. 

This will be a rare chance to see the train, which is 100 years old this year, in operation in the county. 

Tickets for the trip to Cornwall and back are sold out. 

The route will take the spectacular steam train down the banks of the Exe estuary, along the iconic coastal route from Dawlish Warren to Teignmouth before heading inland along some of the steepest climbs on the rail network. 

Sunday’s journey is one of a number of events organised to mark its centenary. 

Built in Doncaster in 1923, the locomotive was the first steam train to reach 100mph. 

Retired from British Railways in 1963 after covering more than two million miles, it is now owned by the National Railway Museum in York.