STEAM enthusiasts were cooling off last night after a busy bank holiday weekend recreating a golden age for the railways.

Crowds gathered at the Tanfield Railway, on the County Durham boundary with western Gateshead, to see the engines.

About 25 volunteers have restored steam engines either built in the North-East, or which previously worked in the region, over the past 30 years.

They have developed a small section of line, creating a four-station loop, which passes through Causey Woods, with the attraction of the world's oldest single span railway bridge, Causey Arch.

Visitors enjoyed rides on coaches pulled by the No 49, a 50-year-old six-coupled engine which hauled coal at Backworth Colliery, Northumberland, during its working life, and by the 1953-built Cecil A Cochrane, named after a director of the former Dunston Gasworks, in Gateshead, where it previously worked.

Enthusiasts hope to eventually open a small railway museum to display the large collection of railway relics, at East Tanfield station.

The Tanfield Railway stages steaming days every Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, from 11am to 4.15pm, and on Wednesdays and Thursdays through the school summer holiday.

The line, which also has a cafe and engine sheds, is based around Andrew's House Station, off the A6076 Stanley to Sunniside road.

Further details from 0191-388 7545, or on the website www.tanfield-railway.co.uk