A SOUTH Lakeland man's ambitious project to recreate a classic steam engine from the 20th century has been given a massive boost after the man leading the project tracked down and bought a collection of the original parts from the family of a late collector.

Alex Sharphouse and a small team of enthusiasts are building Talisman, a Fowler B6 Big Lion Road Locomotive completely from scratch and the project was featured on BBC’s Countryfile programme on Sunday night.

Alex, 36, who lives at Bouth, near Ulverston, believes the discovery of the collection of original Talisman boiler parts at a secret location in the New Forest has added extra kudos to the project and he hopes to have the engine virtually ready for steam by this time next year.

Because the new engine will have some of the original parts and supported by Alex’s painstaking detective work, the DVLA has agreed to let him register it as Talisman.

“The paper trail revealed that the original Talisman had been involved in an accident and broke its crank while owned by Pickfords,” Alex explained. “It was then sold for scrap to Alan Knight and they kept the boiler parts. It was then used in a nursery to steam sterilise soil before ending up covered in nettles for around 40 years.

"The collector rescued it around 20 years ago with the intention of restoring it but, sadly, he recently passed away."

The engine will make a star appearance at the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show at the NEC, Birmingham from March 31 to April 2.