All aboard on the main line

The unique one-day outing will give passengers the chance to catch the historic Bradley Manor steam train at Bridgnorth and travel all the way to the south west city.

The March 28 excursion will see the locomotive pick up daytrippers at Bewdley, Kidderminster and Worcester before heading all the way down country to Bristol and the inland city on the River Avon, which famously boasts its own harbour.

Later the same afternoon, the Severn Valley Wanderer excursion will steam back to the Severn Valley via the Severn Tunnel, Hereford and the Malvern Hills, in the charge of a famous Great Western Railway locomotive No.7802 Bradley Manor, which will be making its very last appearance on the main line.

New legislation, which requires main line steam locomotives to be fitted with a "black box" data recorder like planes and modern diesel locomotives, is too costly far for the owners of the engine.

As such next Wednesday's Wanderer train will be the final fling for the 1938-built locomotive before it is permanently retired.

The train, which has seats for around 400 passengers, is being run by bosses of steam charter train specialists Past-Time Rail of Lichfield, who are turning back the pages of history by some 40 years.

Andy Staite, who runs the company with his sister Jo Burkinshaw, said: "The Severn Valley Wanderer re-creates perfectly the kind of day excursion that was so popular back in the 1950s and 1960s.

"British Railways was running the system in those days, and steam-hauled day excursions were a wonderfully popular and inexpensive day out.

"It's also a chance for passengers to be a little part of railway history."

The trip is being offered at £60 return for a flat fare, £35 for juniors or £220 for a party of four adults by calling 01543 411971.

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