IT IS unthinkable that a town that calls itself "the birthplace of the railways" should close its railway museum.
Times are tight, and councils are having to make some extremely hard choices, but for Darlington to even consider being without its Head of Steam museum is a cut too far.
It would destroy Darlington's past - and it would damage its future.
The railway museum should act as an inspiration to current generations, as an attraction to people beyond the boroughs boundary and as a driver for regeneration for the northern end of town.
Closing the museum and losing the iconic Locomotion No 1 would be like tearing out the Tyne Bridge from Newcastle, or selling Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge for scrap - the railways are that central to Darlingtons identity. What other unique selling point does the town have that defines it on a global level, that places it at the birth of a technology which changed the world?
This is not to say that the Head of Steam is perfect - even its name is a little silly.
This is also not to say that the museum has to be owned and run by Darlington council. In this case, we are prepared to accept the Conservative idea of councils as "facilitators", especially as Darlington council has run this museum for the last 30 years without any great investment or ambition.
This is also not to say that the museum is doomed - we know that there are negotiations with outside parties which could provide an exciting solution to its future.
The council should be throwing itself whole-heartedly into the success of those negotiations, not contemplating their failure by considering the museums closure.
The council is merely the custodian of Darlington's railway heritage. Vandalising the town's past to save a few quid today would be seen as entirely the wrong choice by future generations.