A HISTORIC first meeting of two famous locomotives from the golden age of steam is to take place at a North East railway museum over the Easter weekend.

Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon will put the Dominion of Canada and the Duchess of Hamilton on show.

The two steam engines once raced to be the fastest to travel between London and Edinburgh during the early 20th century.

Anthony Coulls, Locomotion’s senior curator of railway vehicles, said: “This is a once in a lifetime chance to see these two engines together for the first time.

“Historically these two engines are amongst the cream of the steam age. We’re excited to be showing them both.

“We hope visitors will come and see Dominion of Canada and also meet her railway rival this Easter.”

The Duchess of Hamilton is in Shildon on a short visit from the National Railway Museum, York, and it will line up against the Dominion of Canada over the weekend.

The A4-class Dominion of Canada is on loan to the National Railway Museum to help mark a historical railway anniversary.

It is to line up with five other A4-class engines to mark the 75th anniversary of the Mallard breaking the world speed record for a steam locomotive.

The work to restore the Dominion of Canada’s can be viewed at Shildon until the end of April.

Locomotion is open between 10am and 4pm daily with free entry. The two locomotives will be on show next to each other until Tuesday (April 2).

Visitors can enjoy a steam train ride during at the museum as part of the event for a small extra fee on Sunday and Monday (March 30 and April 1).

Details on the plans to mark the Mallard’s anniversary can be found at nrm.org.uk/mallard75.