World record-breaking locomotive Mallard have returned to UK soil for the first time in more than half a century.

The Dominion of Canada and Dwight D Eisenhower locomotives will be transported from Liverpool to the National Railway Museum’s (NRM) Shildon site by road in time for next year’s 75th anniversary of Mallard’s 126mph speed record on the East Coast Main Line.

The Northern Echo: tyu

Steve Davies, director of the National Railway Museum, said the 94-tonne trains had been brought back to England from Canada for what he called an international family reunion.

He said: “When these mighty machines were exported across the Atlantic, no one thought they would ever come back. Now they are finally here.

“The sheer scale of this transcontinental project to move these locomotives back to home soil was immense and it is testament to the vision and expertise of all those involved.”