DIE-hard steam train enthusiasts braved rainstorms which swept the Wellington area on Sunday evening to see the Flying Scotsman pass through on the return leg of a centenary excursion.
On Sunday morning, several hundred people lined stretches of the main Paddington to Penzance rail line in and near Wellington to catch sight of the world's most famous steam train as it made the down journey from Bristol to Cornwall.
When locomotive No 60103 returned in darkness at approximately 9.45 pm there fewer onlookers but still substantial numbers who turned out to photograph and film it.
It was pulling nine carriages on a sell-out ‘Royal Duchy’ excursion operated by The Railway Touring Company, one of a number of tours the iconic engine is making across the UK in its centenary year.
Wellington Weekly readers have started submitting photographs of the Flying Scotsman by emailing them to [email protected] with their name and a note about where and when they were taken, a selection of which will be published.
The Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 in Doncaster Works and was in regular service for 40 years until it was retired in 1963 after covering more than two million miles.
It is now owned by the National Railway Museum, in York, and operated and maintained by Riley and Son (E) Ltd, based in Heywood, Greater Manchester.
More information about the Flying Scotsman and the centenary plans can be found by visiting www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/flying-scotsman.
The National Railway Museum has the largest collection of railway objects in the world and attracts more than 750,000 visitors annually.
Its collection includes more than 260 locomotives and rolling stock, as well as coins, medals, railway uniform and equipment, documents, artwork, and photographs.