TRAIN enthusiasts were thrilled today as they got chance to see an iconic steam engine pass through Herefordshire.
Hereford Times Camera Club member James Rippard spotted the engine as it travelled through Moreton-on-Lugg this morning.
It is thought to be heading to Bristol to be part of the English Riviera Express service from Crewe to Kingswear, near Dartmouth in Devon on Saturday.
Britannia was built at Crewe, and completed in January 1951.
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It was the first British Railways standard locomotive to be built and the first of 55 locomotives of the Britannia class.
The locomotive was named at a ceremony at Marylebone Station by the then Minister for Transport Alfred Barnes on January 30, 1951.
It was initially based at Stratford to transport East Anglian expresses to Norwich and Great Yarmouth.
The locomotive also pulled the funeral train of King George VI from King's Lynn to London following his death at Sandringham House in February 1952.
The 70000 Britannia is also expected to pass through the county next week as part of the Welsh Marches Express service from Poole to Shrewsbury.
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