70000 Britannia passes through Wrexham

Steam engine 70000 Britannia was watched from the platforms by a number of train enthusiasts, who waited almost an extra half hour more than intended due to a delay.

The locomotive famously hauled the train carrying the coffin of King George VI in 1952, two years after it was built in Crewe.

It was to go to the National Railway Museum after it was withdrawn from service in 1966 however it was put into service again in 1991 till 1997. It is now owned by Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust,

The train started at Crewe and was supposed to leave around 10.09am to head to Chester for 10.40am to stop for five minutes before making its way passed Wrexham General, where it had planned to pass through.

Shot of Wrexham General station

Somewhere there was a delay so the train reached Wrexham at 11.25am rather than the intended 11am though fans were warned of a possible change in times.

The main destination was Shrewsbury and after another quick stop it would return back to Crewe via Telford and Stafford.

Shot of Wrexham general station

David Jones, from Wrexham said:"Britannia has been through before, it was running late but there was quite a lot of people here, more than last time so it was very good. This is one of the older type and years ago it carried the coffin of George VI when he died."

David Lee, who was working at the station said: "Its was good. I haven't seen that stream train before. I'm not normally into trains but it looked really cool."

"It's a bit of history as well."

Kevin O'Neil commented: "It nice to see young people about, the young children with their grandparents. There was loads of people here."

John 'Paddy' Moran, who was waiting for his train to Llandudno when it went passed said: "It was beautiful, I enjoyed it so much. It was absolutely fantastic, I came to the station, and I didn't know anything about it."