A WARTIME steam engine which helped in the defeat of the Nazis during the Second World War has gone on show in Shildon following a major restoration.

The former US Army Transportation Corps loco spent the last year of the war ferrying supplies and troops across German occupied Europe.

It spent nearly 40-years working on the PKP, Polish State Railways, after the war before the need for repairs ended its career in 1985.

The engine is on show at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon until September next year.

Sarah Towers of Locomotion said: “It is a nice display to have as it ties in with the wartime theme of the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

“There is a war flat wagon attached to the engine with a tank, which have been hidden away for a while, and it’s nice to have them on show too.”

The Army engine was built in 1943 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, in America, and it crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Britain.

It was allocated to London and North Eastern Railways before it was shipped to France following D-Day in 1944.

The engine was eventually sold as part of the US-led Marshall Plan to help put Europe back on its feet following the war.

It spent time on the North York Moors Railway and it is currently in private ownership.

A cosmetic restoration has taken place and an overhaul of the fire box is also to be carried out.

Aycliffe and District Bus Preservation Society and the Military Vehicle Trust took wartime vehicles to the museum to mark the engine’s arrival on Thursday (June 12)

Locomotion is open daily between 10am and 5pm with free entry and details can be obtained via 01388-777999.