World War Two steam train 'Canadian Pacific' returns to the rails in England

By Catarina Demony and Sarah Mills

ALRESFORD, England (Reuters) - The 'Canadian Pacific', a 1940s steam train that took soldiers and supplies to England's south coast during World War Two, returned to service on Wednesday, taking on board volunteers who spent 14 years reconditioning it and relatives of those who built it.

Billowing smoke from its chimney, the Canadian Pacific set off from the market town of Alresford, in southeast England, for an inaugural journey to nearby Alton marking the completion of a restoration project that began in 2011.

One of the volunteers for the project, 78-year-old retiree Stephen Wilson, said he believed his late mother could have been one of the many women involved in building the train in 1941, while men were away fighting.

"It's the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people and seeing it... (is) just brilliant," he said with a big smile as he stood next to the green locomotive.

The train was named after the Canadian Pacific shipping lines that crossed the Atlantic during the war to deliver military and civilian supplies to Britain. Many such vessels were destroyed or damaged by the Nazis.

Seating with her family in one of train's dining carriages, Blanche Chaisty, 68, said she was proud to be on board knowing that both her mother and grandmother helped build it.

"It's a bit surreal," Chaisty said. "I don't quite know how to feel... it's wonderful."

After World War Two, the train was used for regular passenger services to and from the coast, often for holidaymakers. It was last taken out of service in 2008 and is now due to be revived for tourist trips on the heritage Watercress Line.

Canada's deputy high commissioner in the UK, Robert Fry, was among those who participated in the inaugural trip.

"The railway for us is very symbolic of a united Canada at a time when we are talking a lot about our country and protecting our sovereignty," he told Reuters, in a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's recent threats to annex Canada.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Sarah Mills and Gerhard Mey; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Toby Chopra)