A famous steam engine is on its way to Shropshire: Everything you need to know about the Blue Peter visit

Blue Peter is a lovely steam engine that shares its name with the popular children’s TV programme and, of course, the maritime signal.

The engine is no stranger to Shropshire and was caught on video by the Star back in April.

This time it is on a test run taking it from Crewe to Shrewsbury via Chester, Wrexham and Gobowen in the mornings.

It will be hanging around at the sidings at Coton Hill in the county town at lunchtimes before getting up a head of steam.

Then it is set to head off back to Crewe via Stafford.

The locomotive, 60532 Blue Peter, is A2 class express engine, it was one of 15 built by the London & North Eastern Railway, and latterly British Railways, in the late 1940s.

Blue Peter was completed in early 1948 and spent nearly all of its working life in Scotland until being withdrawn from service in 1966. The other 14 members of the class were taken out of service between 1962 and 1966 and scrapped.

Despite being named after a racehorse, its association with the children’s show of the same title began in the late 1960s as enthusiasts bought the loco and restored it. A Blue Peter is also a blue signal flag with a white square in the centre that is used to flag indicating that a merchant vessel is ready to sail.

In 1994 it suffered extensive damage during a catastrophic uncontrolled wheel slip, when its driving wheels reached a rotational speed of 140mph as the locomotive pulled away from a stop at Durham, before parts of the motion disintegrated. After an 18-month repair job, the loco ran on the mainline until September 2001 before being withdrawn completely for overhaul in 2002.