AN ICONIC steam locomotive will stop in Hereford next month as it hauls the Welsh Marches Express.

Class 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, the impressive engine built in 1936 by Great Western Railway, will speed along the main lines on Saturday, November 12.

Vintage Trains, which is organising the tour, said the day will combine the excitement of travelling behind a famous steam locomotive with a variety of picturesque English-Welsh border views.

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This trip follows a circular route, departing from Tyseley in Birmingham at 7am.

From there, the train will head towards Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury then take the Welsh borders line through Craven Arms and past Stokesay Castle, pausing at Hereford to visit the city after travelling through Leominster.

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After the break, the steam loco climbs the Llanvihangel bank, burrows through the Severn Tunnel and passes along Brunel’s Bristol to London Great Western main line.

To finish off the day in style, the tour returns to Birmingham via Oxford and with a last hurrah finish on the steep, well-known Hatton bank.

The tour will end at 7pm, but exact timings have not yet been given.

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The loco, 5043, is currently undergoing a overhaul so Vintage Trains said if this is not finished in time, 7029 Clun Castle will be used instead.

Over 30 years, 5043 was based at London's Old Oak Common depot, Carmarthen in South Wales and Cardiff, but was withdrawn in December 1963 and acquired by Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales in June 1964.

It was then sold to Birmingham Railway Museum and restored.