The Britannia class steam engine was one of a series built just before the end of the steam era.

Mr Cross brought in pictures of two more of the class at Diss Station, Robert Burns 70006 and Geoffrey Chaucer 70002, both taken in about 1955.

Oliver Cromwell is 700013 and the only other engine still in existence is Britannia 7000.

"They were regulars on the Norwich-London line until 1958," said Mr Cross.

"After that they ran on the Carlisle line until the late 1960s.

"It was criminal that they were discarded so soon after they were built. They could easily have run for another 15 years but were just scrapped as soon as anything went wrong and, with no maintenance being done on them, that was fairly quickly."

Oliver Cromwell was eventually moved to Bressingham Steam Museum, on loan from the National Railway Museum.

"It was run light from Carlisle to Norwich and then stripped of all excess weight," said Mr Cross. "It was then put on a trailer and brought by rail to Diss before being put on a low loader.

"They had to let down the tyres to get it under the railway bridge."

Mr Cross said the Britannia class were real work horses of the steam age. "Everything was hauled by them. The mail and newspapers came and many businesses used them as a matter of course to get their produce around the country. Blooms of Bressingham used them when they first started for sending plants out."

Mr Cross played his part in that important role.

"I made the specially-strengthened benches used for carrying the newspapers and was really proud to have been involved."