The Flying Scotsman steamed into Worcester’s Shrub Hill station this morning to the delight of a large crowd of onlookers.
The locomotive - arguably the most famous in the world - had left London Paddington earlier pulling steam train The Cotswold Venturer and daytrippers enjoying both a scenic railway journey and a few hours exploring Worcester.
Shrub Hill had more members of staff on the platforms than it would on a usual Saturday in anticipation of large crowds.
And the public didn’t disappoint, turning out in their dozens on a cold but bright day.
The weather was a far cry from the storms of a fortnight earlier that had caused the Flying Scotsman’s scheduled visit of February 19 to be cancelled.
Onlookers were guided by staff to view the Flying Scotsman from platforms 2 and 3, giving its passengers plenty of room to get off at platform 1.
Among those waiting was young Ace Lampitt and his mum Michelle. Five-year-old Ace watches the trains at Shrub Hill most days but was especially looking forward to seeing the Flying Scotsman.
There were a few tense moments as another train waited a while at platform 2 as the minutes ticked down to the Scotsman’s arrival, but it did move eventually and it seemed that most people were able to get a good view of the Scotsman and its long line of carriages pulling into Worcester.
Many people then made their way to the end of platform 2 to get a closer look at the engine itself. The Scotsman stayed there for about 20 minutes before heading off into sidings at Shrub Hill, while service staff in the carriages could be seen laying tables ready for The Cotswold Venturer’s passengers to return in the afternoon.
The Scotsman was spotted in a few places in Worcester including briefly at the city's other station, Foregate Street, as it turned around on tracks north of Shrub Hill known as 'the triangle'.
The engine pulled back into Shrub Hill at about 4.20pm before picking up its passengers and heading back towards London Paddington, but not before giving a few more fans the chance to catch of glimpse and take that all-important photo on the way.
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