SHE is affectionately known as Nelly. Lord Nelson, the steam engine that refused to die, is a permanent reminder of Eastleigh’s proud railway roots and those glory days when locomotives rolled off the production line at the Campbell Road works.

For it was back in the 1920s that Number 850 made its debut as it proudly steamed out of the running sheds.

Townsfolk and railway enthusiasts, who had travelled from miles around, packed the railway embankment to watch the majestic rail machine make its first appearance to the world.

The legendary Lord Nelson is one of an elite class of 16 locos built in the railway town between 1926 and 1929.

In its heyday Nelly, which clocked up 1.8 million miles, was the pulling power for the boat train which carried the rich and famous from London to join luxury transatlantic liners in Southampton.

After retiring from British Railways in 1967 the famous loco was pulled into the sidings for a well-deserved rest at the National Railway Museum in York.

It made an emotional return to its home town in August 1997 where members of the Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society worked at full steam to get Lord Nelson back to mainline running standards.

Daily Echo: The admiral of the tracks