Historic rail vehicles arrive ahead of opening day

Dozens of historic rail vehicles have been shunted to a museum in what is believed to be the biggest display of its kind in Europe.

Shildon's Locomotion museum said it had moved 46 vehicles into a new £8m building.

The County Durham collection includes steam locomotives, hand-powered track inspection machines, freight wagons, snow ploughs and an armoured vehicle on tracks.

The display, which opens on 24 May, would give visitors the "chance to find out more" about the North East's railway heritage, Locomotion's Sarah Price said.

The rail vehicles have been gathered from around the North East, with some moving from elsewhere on the Locomotion site to the covered New Hall.

The museum said the move under cover would help to conserve some of the region's oldest rail vehicles.

Ms Price, head of the museum, described its new building as "magnificent".

"New Hall effectively doubles the size of Locomotion and gives us much needed covered display space to help conserve the collection, as well as giving visitors the chance to find out more about the railways and the North East's railway heritage," she said.

Next year marks the 200th anniversary of the world's first passenger train, which was hauled by George Stephenson's steam locomotive Locomotion No.1 along the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

Elizabeth Scott, from Durham County Council, said the authority was "delighted" to "let many more people know the significance of Shildon as the starting point of the world's first steam locomotive-powered passenger journey".

Ms Scott said it would "further raise Durham's profile nationally and internationally as the Culture County".

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