The Cathedrals express first appeared in the winter timetable of September 1957. It left Hereford (Mondays-Saturdays) at 7.45am and returned from Paddington at 4.45pm. The reporting number (A43) had on this occasion been omitted. At the time of the photograph, the locomotive headboard was carried only on Fridays and Saturdays -this being a Saturday. The train was already travelling very fast indeed and the head on view was necessary to ’stop’ it. The locomotive had been renamed from ‘Lamphey Castle’ to ‘Sir Edward Elgar’ as recently as August 1957.

Photo by and copyright of David P Williams