Train fan captures super steam image
The photograph could have been taken more than a century ago, a magnificent steam train crossing the equally magnificent Chirk Viaduct.
In fact it was taken at the weekend when The Shropshire Express vintage train excursion ran from Wolverhampton to Crewe.
Alan Roberts, a recently retired coal merchant from Chirk, discovered that the train, number 5043 ‘Earl of Mount Edgcumbe' was going to be travelling through his home town and stopping briefly for a photo opportunity.
"I thought that capturing the train going over the viaduct would be the best shot as that was why the viaduct was built. I walked down, with my wife, to the banks of the River Ceiriog and sat and waited.
"I am really pleased with the photo. I had hoped that I would be able to get a canal boat crossing the aqueduct at the same time but unfortunately it when off the bridge before the train arrived."
Mr Roberts said that since retiring he had been able to spend more time taken photographs.
"I treated myself to a new camera and this was its first outing in this country - I am pleased with the results."
The Chirk viaduct was built by Henry Robertson for the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway between 1846-8 with some rebuilding in 1958. It is listed as an historic structure.
