FOR regular users of Blackburn Station, one feature would always attract your attention - the ship in the glass case.

Situated on platform two near the ramp that led to the booking office, the detailed scale model was of the SS Viking, a ship operated by the Isle of Man Stem Packet Company.

The model was used to advertise weekly sailings to the Isle of Man.

The ship - and cabinet - was removed when the station underwent renovations in the mid 1980s. For a time it was stored in Blackburn Museum before the shipping company installed the model at the Steam Packet museum in Douglas in the mid 1990s. It later took pride of place in the company’s boardroom.