LIGHT has started to appear at the end of the tunnel for a group of train enthusiasts who have embarked on their biggest rail journey yet.

The visionary project to build a G5 steam engine from start to finish at Shildon, in County Durham, entered a new phase at the weekend.

The team behind the endeavour invited Durham County Council chairman, Councillor Jan Blakey, to officially open its own base on Hackworth Industrial Estate yesterday (Saturday, June 13) as the locomotive starts to take shape.

The move will also enable the group to hold open days to promote its progress to the public.

The project began in 2007 when three rail enthusiasts decided to build a G5 class 0-4-4 tank locomotive- a workhorse of the north’s rail network from the 1880s to the 1950s- from the original engineer’s drawings.

They imagined it would take four years and no more than £400,000 to complete.

Eight years later, nearly twice as much money has been spent but the trio, which has now grown into the Class G5 Locomotive Company, hope their dream will soon be realised.

The huge boiler was built first and the group also has other key parts including the frames with cylinders, Westinghouse pump, cab and bunker and buffers.

Once completed, the locomotive will operate mainly on heritage lines but will be mainline certified.

Chairman Dr Mike Wood, a former Spennymoor GP, said: “Literally starting from nothing, what we have achieved in remarkable.

“This is a North Eastern project, built in the North-East by people from the North-East but sponsored by people from all regions of the UK as well as some from abroad.

“This project is a vital part of our Northern heritage.

“We should be proud and honour it.”

On Saturday, the group launched the Crank Axle Degree Fund, to sell 360 degrees of the component as £100 shares to raise the £36,000 needed to pay for the last major component.

The first man to buy into the scheme was retired transport executive and grandfather of three John Carr, 69, from West Yorkshire.

He said: “I have had a love of trains since I was so high, I believe this sort of loco is typical of the locos that hauled suburban and rural branch line trains but are a sad emission from national collections.

“This can show people something of what life and transport was like from the 1880s to just after the Second World War.

“Investing in it means that one day my grandchildren will be able to ride behind it and say ‘people like my granddad helped keep it alive’.”

The group’s unit at Unit 8S, Hackworth Industrial Park, will open to the public on the first and third Saturday of every month, from 10am to 2pm.