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Royal visitor steams into Leighton
Record-breaking locomotive makes a rare visit to town.
STEAM fans were out in force in and around Leighton on Saturday for a glimpse of a very special royal visitor.
The steam locomotive The Princess Elizabeth, one of only two left, was making a round trip from its base at the Crewe Heritage Centre to Euston pulling The Doric Olympian.
The Elizabeth, a Coronation Class steamlocomotive, used to be a regular to the town during the old steam days.
She's a bit special, setting the record for the locomotive which completed the longest, fastest non-stop run pulling a steam-hauled passenger train.
Hundreds of train buffs eagerly filled railway bridges and vantage points near the town to catch sight of the rare and historic 6201 locomotive, designed by William Stanier and built in 1933.
It operated on the Euston to Glasgow line until it was retired from service in 1962 and is taken out of mothballs every now and then to take fans on specialist trips.
Before passing through Leighton it stopped at Bletchley to be filled with water by road tanker.
Euston has only recently been approved to accept steam trains once again so there's a chance well see more of these majestic locos.
Next up is the brand new steam train Tornado which was recently featured in an episode of BBC's Top Gear. It is due to go through Leighton on Saturday May 22 at roughly 9.30am.
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Weather for Leighton Buzzard
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
