Woody Bay Devon England United Kingdom - Families and train enthusiasts enjoyed Armed Forces Day celebrations at the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway on Saturday.
 
Special guest was Axe, a 100-year-old steam engine that was built to carry troops to the trenches during World War I.
 
The locomotive was built in 1915 at Stoke-on-Trent, delivered to the French Army, and then handed over to the British for service during the Great War, serving at the front for four years.
 
On Saturday the engine celebrated its centenary by making special "Coming Home" journeys at Woody Bay Station.
 
The narrow-gauge railway line marked the day by linking up with the armed forces fund raising campaign "Coming Home", part of the Haig Housing Trust charity.
 
Peter Miles at the railway took up Axe's story:  "Many years later five of the Kerr Stuart Joffre class engines, including Axe, were discovered in a quarry in Boulogne and repatriated.
 
"They came home and Axe was the first to be rebuilt and restored to running order, it has since been a mainstay on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway until larger steam engines arrived and entered service but is still a powerful and useful engine.
 
"It seemed appropriate that given the incredible military history of our engine Axe that we should recognize Armed Forces Day by linking up with "Coming Home".
 
Chief executive of the Haig Housing Trust, Brigadier James Richardson MBE, added:  "We are very grateful to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway for supporting our charity during Armed Forces Day. The history of this railway and in particular the engine Axe has a lot in common with the roots of our trust which helped wounded soldiers returning from the Great War."
 
Tony Gussin.