Flying Scotsman service starts on North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Tickets to ride on the Flying Scotsman service across the North Yorkshire Moors sold out in December

One of the world's most famous locomotives has started its first series of passenger journeys.

The Flying Scotsman took to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) heritage line after a decade-long, £4.2m refit.

Its first of six daily services from Grosmont to Pickering started at 09:30 GMT with stops at Goathland, Newtondale and Levisham on route.

A total of 8,500 tickets were purchased for the sold-out locomotive service, which runs until 20 March.

Tickets were sold at £38 for an adult and £25 for a child for a full return journey between Grosmont and Pickering, a spokesperson for the NYMR said.

All 8,500 tickets went on sale on 26 October last year and were sold out by Christmas, they added.

NYMR declined to disclose how much money it had made from the sales, but said some of the funds would pay for the "upkeep" of its heritage line.

The famous steam engine was shrouded in steam as it left London Kings Cross for its inaugural run to York last month

General Manager Chris Price said: "We're understandably incredibly excited about Flying Scotsman arriving and I'm sure that many others will be too, although we do urge anyone wanting to take photographs to do so from a safe distance and refrain from straying onto the railway itself.

"After recent events, British Transport Police has confirmed that if people are seen trespassing on the tracks, they risk being brought before the courts, a fine of £1,000 and a criminal record."

The engine, which retired from service in 1963, has been restored for the National Railway Museum (NRM).

It made its inaugural run last month when it travelled from London King's Cross to York before going on display at the NRM.

Thousands of rail enthusiasts flocked to see the locomotive on route with fans venturing on the tracks to catch a glimpse of the engine as it passed by. After a number of disruptions, the locomotive arrived into York an hour later than expected.

Flying Scotsman

• Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, Flying Scotsman emerged from Doncaster Works on 24 February 1923

• The British Empire Exhibition in 1924 made Flying Scotsman famous

• In 1934, Scotsman was clocked at 100mph - officially the first locomotive to have reached that speed. But some claim City of Truro was the first steam engine to break the 100mph record, in 1904, when it apparently reached a speed of 102mph running down a slope

• It is 70ft (21m) long, weighs about 96 tonnes and had a top speed of 100mph

• It has travelled approximately 2,500,000 miles

• During World War Two it was repainted wartime black

• By 1995 it was part-owned by record producer Pete Waterman

• The engine was bought for the nation in 2004 by the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York using £415,000 in public donations, a £365,000 gift from Sir Richard Branson and a £1.8m grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund

The famous locomotive was painted in its traditional green livery last month, marking the end of a decade-long restoration project