FOR Brian Howe, the project to restore a historic steam locomotive in Darlington has a special significance.

As a young man 50 years ago, Mr Howe, 68, was the fireman on the Q6 loco. Today, he is one of the team from the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (NELPG), which is working on the engine at the Hopetown Carriage Works.

Mr Howe first encountered the Q6 when as a teenager, he worked on the railways in Consett, North Durham.

However, he left the industry and after a spell in the RAF, worked in newspapers. Once he retired, he sought something to fill his time and found himself drawn to NELPG, which is when he was reunited with the Q6.

Q6, having been built at the Darlington locomotive works in 1918, went into service for the North Eastern Railway and spent most of her life as a coal engine, before British Rail retired her in 1967.

NELPG bought her a year later. The Q6 is one of the several engines owned by the group and was delivered to Hopetown last year, having spent the past 20 years at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

She last steamed in 1984 and also took part in a cavalcade to mark the 150th anniversary of the Darlington and Stockton Railway in 1975.

Mr Howe, who lives in Darlington, said: "I worked on the Q6 as a fireman when I was 16 or 17 and I remember the engine well.

"It is wonderful to be working on it half a century later. It is like reliving the past. It brings back such happy memories of when I was young and full of adventure.

"It will be wonderful when it steams again," said Mr Howe, who works as a guide at Darlington Railway Museum and Centre, not far from the Hopetown works.

It is hoped that the restored Q6 will be able to steam again inside the next two and a half years.

A number of the group are former rail men, but many simply love the romance of the steam age and can trace their affection back to childhood.

NELPG board member Terry Newman, 59, from Stockton, a gas engineer before he retired, said: "In those days, there was not a lot else to do for young people - look at the old pictures and you will see the stations full of children."

Malcolm Middleton, 63, of Darlington, who retired from his job with Darlington's Cummins Engine Company, said: "It is a fascination: these locomotives have so much character. They are alive."

The society is looking for new, particularly young, members. Anyone interested can contact Mr Newman, on (01642) 654675.