Lovers of steam traction are set to be in for a real treat once again as Clun Castle chuffs past its hometown of Swindon on June 11.

Clun Castle was built by the Western Region of British Railways at Swindon Works in 1950 and was the last steam engine to officially haul a train out of Paddington on 11 June 1965. Withdrawal took place later in the year (December).

‘Clun Castle’ was then saved from the scrapyard by Pat Whitehouse who bought the engine for £2400 (£47,639) in today’s money.

The locomotive is retracing the route of its trip, fifty years ago, when it was the first engine to haul a public steam excursion in the UK between Birmingham and Didcot after British Rail’s infamous ban on steam traction.

Vintage Trains is running the special train which will is currently scheduled to run from Birmingham Snow Hill to Cardiff via Oxford before joining the Great Western Main Line at Didcot.

The train will then speed down towards the Welsh capital and will race through places such as Swindon and Bristol.

Clun Castle will then return to Birmingham using the same route.

This means that ‘Clun Castle’ will be racing past its hometown both on the outward and return journey to the second city.

Timings for the trip have not been released yet.