Rail enthusiasts were treated to the glorious spectacle of a steam train on the main line as the Tornado passed through the South Hams on Monday.

Those in the know lined the track as the engine, the first steam locomotive to be built in the UK in many decades, travelled from London Paddington to Penzance through Totnes, South Brent and Ivybridge.

The engine was constructed after a group of people came together in 1990 with an ambitious plan - to build a brand new ’Peppercorn A1 Pacific’ steam locomotive. They formed the The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and after nineteen years’ effort No 60163 Tornado moved under its own power for the first time in 2008.

The engine hauls special trains on the main line and plys its trade on heritage railways up and down the country. Having pulled The Cornishman train to Penzance, the Tornado was to spend four subsequent days on the Bodmin and Wenford Railway.