A VICTORIAN steam locomotive and Edwardian stores van housed at Kirkby Stephen East (KSE) station are to be restored with Heritage Lottery Fund cash.

The Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust (LCLT) has been awarded £38,500 development funding for the project . The money will also help the trust progress plans to apply for a full grant at a later date.

The project will return the North Eastern Railway J21 locomotive No 65033 to steam. It will also be used to develop a heritage and interpretation centre within an Edwardian railway stores van and on the enclosed platform area at the station.

A spokesman for the LCLT said the locomotive and the interpretation area would 'underpin a robust and innovative engagement strategy, activity plan and events programme.'

The locomotive, built in 1889, the ‘Stainmore Survivor’, is the sole remaining example of 200 of its type. It was twice withdrawn from service, in 1939 and 1962, and was eventually saved in June 1968, four days before it was due to be removed for scrap.

Although very much regarded as an unglamorous workhorse, it famously hauled King George VI to Kirkby Stephen and, on December 4 1942, took Winston Churchill on his visit to the Battle School at Barnard Castle. It spent much of its life working the line over Stainmore and through KSE.

The stores van dates from 1902 and was used to transport equipment to locations such as KSE which had no road access. The LCLT is keen to ensure that the story of this less glamorous side of steam railway operation is not forgotten, as well as explaining the locomotive’s story through the lives of the people that it touched for nearly 130 years.

Julian Birley, LCLT chairman, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that the Heritage Lottery Fund has supported our project and particular credit must be paid to trustees Toby Watkins and Mike Thompson who have worked tirelessly with the HLF to develop the bid for this project which is vital in telling and preserving a unique part of this country’s railway heritage.

"The J21 and the bogie stores van are of great importance and deserve to be shared with the nation. Furthermore, the opportunity to make a real impact at KSE station excites us very much and we are delighted to be playing a part in their emergence as the major tourist attraction for the area."