Mayflower will head East Anglia tour in August

LNER B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower is booked to tour East Anglia during August 14/15 to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Eastern Union Railway.

Saturday, August 14 will feature three circular trips departing from Colchester at 8.10am, 11.10am and 14.10pm.

The route will head to Bury St Edmunds, where the trains will reverse for the return journey.

In addition, an evening diner leaves Colchester at 6.10pm, calling at Ipswich at 6.35pm. This train is routed via Bury St Edmunds Newmarket, Cambridge and Ely.

Evening diner

Sunday, August 15 sees the B1 heading up to Ipswich for another busy day of celebrations. Trains will start at 8.30am, 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm, with dining and nondining classes available.

That evening, a diner gets away from Colchester at 6pm and Ipswich at 6.25pm, routed through Stowmarket and into Norfolk following the River Yare to Norwich and return.

Steam Dreams chairman and B1 owner David Buck was once a schoolboy trainspotter at Colchester station in the steam era.

He said: “The interest and enthusiasm of local people has resulted in tickets being snapped up quickly for these trips.”