RAILWAY enthusiasts were last night eagerly awaiting the arrival of a famous locomotive at a North-East museum.

Blue Peter, a renowned name from the golden age of steam rail travel, will go on display at the weekend - two months after a Northern Echo-backed campaign was launched.

One of the most powerful passenger locomotives of its time, Blue Peter is a huge favourite among railway buffs and is expected to prove a major attraction for Darlington Railway Museum.

Final preparations to make the North Road site ready for the long-awaited arrival of the Blue Peter were being made yesterday, ahead of its journey from the North York Moors beginning on Thursday.

The operation will be complicated, with haulage firm GCS Johnson starting to load up the engine at Newbridge Yard, Pickering, at 8am.

Blue Peter will then make the trip to Darlington, possibly with the aid of a police escort, being filmed every step of the way by a camera crew from the children's television show of the same name.

It is likely to arrive in Darlington by mid-afternoon and be ready for show on Saturday.

Acting heritage manager John Wilkes said: "Alongside the original George Stephenson Locomotion No.1 we have here, the addition of Blue Peter will help put Darlington firmly on the map."

The museum has been working closely with Darlington Borough Council and the North-Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group to bring about the move.

The locomotive, which was built in 1948, carried passengers between Newcastle and King's Cross.

It was withdrawn from service in 1966 and was most recently based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.