When and where to see classic 76-year-old steam engine in Shropshire on Thursday

The latest railtour to bring day-trippers to Shrewsbury chuffs its way through Shropshire this week.

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Hundreds of people will be enjoying the latest Welsh Marches Express, which will be steam-hauled from Bristol to Shrewsbury and return.

At the front of the train will be the apple green London & North Eastern Railway engine, No. 61306 Mayflower.

A member of the B1 class, designed to haul freight and passenger trains, it was one of 410 built between 1942 and 1952, emerging from the North British Locomotive Company workshop in Glasgow in April 1948.

For the next 19 years it was operated by British Railways, spending most of its time based in Hull and Bradford before being purchased for preservation in Lancashire in 1968, where it was given the name Mayflower. It is now just one of two surviving examples.

Since 2022 it has been owned by Locomotive Services Group and runs in the livery it carried when first built.

Thursday's train starts out at High Wycombe at 5.47am behind a diesel locomotive. From there it heads to Bristol via Bicester, Oxford and Swindon.

Steam locomotive No. 61306 Mayflower will be running through the county this week. Photo: Locomotive Services Group

At Bristol, Mayflower will replace the diesel and pull the train to Shrewsbury, arriving at 1.40pm.

Just over two hours later, at 3.48pm, the train back to Bristol, before a diesel takes passengers back towards High Wycombe.

For those wanting to see the train in Shropshire, these are the times for the train to Shrewsbury:

Hereford - 11.15am-12.36pm

Moreton-on-lugg - 12.45pm

Leominster - 12.54pm

Woofferton - 1.01pm

Bromfield - 1.08pm

Craven Arms - 1.14pm

Marsh Brook Level Crossing - 1.20pm

Dorrington - 1.30pm

Shrewsbury - 1.40pm

The train can be tracked on Real Time Trains.

For the return journey, the times are:

Shrewsbury - 3.48pm

Dorrington - 4.02pm

Church Stretton - 4.11pm

Marsh Brook Level Crossing - 4.15pm

Craven Arms (stops in a loop outside the station) - 4.21-4.43pm

Onibury - 4.47pm

Bromfield - 4.50pm

Ludlow - 4.52pm

Woofferton - 4.57pm

Leominster - 5.04pm

Moreton-on-luff - 5.13pm

Hereford - 5.19pm

The train's return journey can be tracked on Real Time Trains.