A MAGNIFICENT oil painting of a steam locomotive commissioned by Bulmers has sold for more than £40,000 at a London auction.

Painted by Britain's greatest steam train artist, Terence Cuneo, in the 1960s, it went under the hammer at Bonhams on Tuesday, selling for more than five times what the train had cost to build in 1927, including the buyer's premium.

The painting's buyer has not been disclosed by the auction house, but staff said it will hang in a UK gallery.