RARE blue steam engines drew crowds in their thousands to Didcot Railway Centre over the weekend.

The three locomotives are painted in a tone of blue only used on the trains between 1949 and 1952.

The Peppercorn class A1 60163 Tornado joined forces with the GWR King 6023 King Edward II and Gresley class A4 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley on show at the centre on Saturday and Sunday.

The engines also pulled passengers along the railway centre’s track.

Volunteer guard Matt Baker, 28, said: “It was a really good weekend. One of the good things about the Didcot centre is that you can get so close.”

Frank Dumbleton, 68, said: “The colour stopped being used because the pigment faded quite guickly, so all trains were then painted the standard green.”

Mr Dumbleton added: “These are the only three in the country so to get them together is quite an event for the railway enthusiasts.”