TRAIN enthusiasts gathered to watch as an iconic steam locomotive made a whistle-stop tour of Lancashire’s railways.

The Tornado steam engine pulled into Blackburn railway station for two minutes as it made its way from Hellifield, along the Lancashire and Yorkshire line to the town, via Clitheroe.

Plumes of white smoke filled the Railway Road station as the train chugged in to the platform last night.

Then, two minutes later, it left to rejoin the West Coast Main Line, just to the south of Preston towards Crewe.

The Tornado travelled from Crewe to Carlisle and back again yesterday.

The £3million steam engine, completed two years ago, was constructed over 19 years and is the first full-size mainline steam locomotive to have been built in the UK since the 1950s.