Historic rail vehicle collection on move to museum

Shunting the rail vehicles to New Hall will take four weeks

Preparations are steaming ahead to display Europe's largest undercover collection of historic rail vehicles.

Specialist teams are shunting 46 rail vehicles into the Locomotion museum in Shildon, County Durham.

The complex operation will take four weeks and will result in a display that includes "something to complete every train set", including cranes, steam locomotives and snow ploughs.

The collection will be housed in the museum's recently built New Hall, which opens in May.

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

A spokesman for the museum said the move under cover will help to conserve some of the region's oldest rail vehicles.

A tracked Bren Gun Carrier and a pair of track inspection velocipedes will be among those on show when the hall is officially opened on 24 May.

The museum says the move will help to protect the vehicles

Sarah Price, head of Locomotion, said the creation of the £8m New Hall had allowed the museum to double in size.

The hall is close to the former Shildon Works site, which was once home to a railway workshop that employed thousands and closed in 1984.

The new display will celebrate that link and "recognise the important role of railways in shaping communities in Shildon and across the North East, as well as the development of railways across the UK", a spokesman said.

Ms Price added: "New Hall 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 North East's railway heritage."

Durham County Council helped to fund the construction of the hall at Locomotion.

Councillor Elizabeth Scott, the authority's cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said the hall would be at the heart of upcoming celebrations marking 200 years since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.