VOLUNTEERS from The West Somerset Railway took part in a launch of the Royal Mail's first set of special stamps for this year at Minehead railway station.

The collection 'Classic locomotives' got a good send off at the station last Friday and officially went on sale on Tuesday.

The six stamps have face values of between 20p and 68p and amongst the locomotives featured on the 42p stamp is a Great Western designed 'Manor' class locomotive.

'Classic locomotives' continues the Royal Mail's transport series (buses in 2001, Airliners in 2002 and Transports of Delight in 2003) and marks the 200th anniversary of the first journey by a steam locomotive, Trevithck's Penydarrn in February 1904 in Merthyr Tydfil.

Other stamps in the series include 'Dolgoch', the first locomotive to pull a passenger train on a heritage railway in the UK, on the Talyllyn Railway in North Wales and the 'air smoothed' West Country class 'Blackmoor Vale' at Horsted Keynes Station.

It was appropriate that the launch for the West of England also featured the 7820 'Dinmore Manor', as it is a locomotive that has been hauling passenger trains on the West Somerset Railway since its restoration in 1994.