Two classic steam engines to run through Merseyside and Cheshire on Saturday - when and where to see them

Crowds have been gathering up and down the country to catch a glimpse of the spectacular Great Britain XVI steam train as it makes its nine-day tour of England, Scotland and Wales powered by a pair of classic locomotives.

‘The Lancashire Fusilier’ steam engines will haul out of Liverpool Lime Street on Saturday morning as the train makes the penultimate leg of its journey, before heading to London on Sunday.

The two former London Midland & Scottish Railway ‘Black 5’ locomotives, numbered 44871 and 45407, were built in 1945 and 1937 respectively. The Great Britain XVI also has a class 47 locomotive at the rear. Enthusiasts and onlookers have been lining the route to watch.

The steam train will depart Liverpool Lime Street station at 9am on Saturday, April 20, and haul through the famous Edge Hill cutting before heading towards Runcorn and over the river Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal on the Runcorn Bridge.

The timetable for Great Britain XVI departing and passing through Liverpool and Cheshire is as follows, according to railadvent.co.uk.

• 9.00am Liverpool Lime Street 
• 9.02am Liverpool Crown Street Jn
• 9.04am Edge Hill 
• 9.05am Former Edge Hill S.B.
• 9.08am Wavertree Jn 
• 9.10am Mossley Hill
• 9.11am West Allerton
• 9.13am Liverpool South Parkway
• 9.13am Allerton Jn
• 9.14am Speke Jn
• 9.18am Ditton East Junction
• 9.25am Runcorn
• 9.27am Halton Jn
• 9.36am Frodsham Jn
• 9.38am Frodsham
• 9.41am Helsby
• 9.48am Mickle Trafford
• 9.54am Chester East Jn.
• 10.30am Chester

The steam engines will then follow the Great Western Railway line to Shrewsbury before heading into Wales on the mostly single-track Central Wales line. After stopping in Swansea overnight, the Black 5s will travel the Vale of Glamorgan Line via Barry to Cardiff, past the Severn Estuary and on to London Paddington, where the train terminates on Sunday.