THOUSANDS of visitors flocked to see two VIP locomotives at a museum's annual steam gala at the weekend.

The Flying Scotsman was the main event at the gala at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon.

The 1923-built A1 was named after the London to Edinburgh rail service and in 1934 became the first locomotive in the UK to reach 100mph.

In 2004, the National Railway Museum bought it for the national collection.

It was joined by guest locomotive BR Standard Class 2MT No 78018 – made famous in the film Snowdrift at Bleath Gill and restored by Darlington Railway Preservation Society.

Museum manager, Gary Campbell, said more than 4,000 visitors of all ages enjoyed the locomotives on Saturday alone.

He said: "It's been excellent; we are really delighted with the numbers of visitors."

"It has brought out grandparents to babes in arms so it's really amazing how the Flying Scotsman has that appeal across the generations."

Mr Campbell said the BR Standard Class 2MT No 78018 had been equally as popular.

He added: "The BR Standard Class has been hugely popular - we had a couple of guys whose dad drive it and was responsible for getting it out of the snowdrift so it was great to hear some personal stories about it."