One of the UK’s most revered locomotives passed through Blackburn on Wednesday, September 3.
The 70000 Britannia pulled into the station as part of a rail tour from Carlisle to Blackpool North.
Rail enthusiasts have said it was a rare sight to see an engine of Britannia’s pedigree pass through the town.
Harley Reynolds, a local railway enthusiast, said: “It's amazing to see how it attracts not just enthusiasts but regular commuters too.
“It's not so often a steam engine like Britannia comes past Blackburn.”
Built in Crewe in 1951, the train was the first British Railways standard locomotive to be built and the first of 55 trains of the Britannia class.
Whilst the train did not reach the high mileage of many of the other engines built during the period, it remains one of the most iconic on British Rail.
Withdrawn from service in May 1966, it had originally been planned to be stored at the National Collection at the National Railway Museum, but they chose to preserve the 70013 Oliver Cromwell.
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Following its withdrawal, the locomotive was stored in Stratford, then in Brighton and then Redhill, during which time the East Anglian Locomotive Preservation Society was formed.
In 2009, a full overhaul of the train commenced, which took three years to complete and involved fitting a new cab, a new smoke box and major work on the boiler.
However, after just three years back on the rails, Britannia was involved in a collision at the North Norfolk Railway in March 2013.
In August 2023, the locomotive failed after suffering a broken crosshead, resulting in damage to the piston and cylinder end cover on the right-hand side, but it made it back into service at the end of 2024.
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