A CLOSURE-THREATENED railway museum has received a £42,000 windfall for a project to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

The project, at the Head of Steam museum, in Darlington, will focus on the contribution to the war effort by the region’s railway workers.

Entitled North Eastern Railways in World War One, it is being funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The museum itself is facing an uncertain future after Darlington Borough Council, which runs it, announced in December that it would no longer be able to fund it after 2016.

Efforts are being made to secure its future by transferring it to some – as yet unidentified – form of community management.

The council needs to trim £14m from its budget over the next three years and there has been much speculation over the museum’s future.

It is understood council funding for the attraction will be withdrawn in April next year, but a model to secure the future of what many see as an internationally-significant asset has yet to be agreed.

The museum stands on the original 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first steam-worked public railway.

The project will enable local people in Darlington to preserve the memories of the region’s railway workers who served or otherwise helped with the war effort.

Volunteers will work with staff to collate information from the museum’s records and create an online database of individuals, which it is hoped will be useful for family and railway historians, as well as schools.

There will be opportunities for the public to find out more about the project in a series of events around Darlington, with further details to be announced at a later date.

The archival documents containing the information will be conserved and digitised to preserve them for future generations.

Councillor Nick Wallis, cabinet member for culture, said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and this is a fitting way for Darlington to commemorate the contribution railway workers made during the First World War.”

Ivor Crowther, head of the HLF in the North-East, added: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond.

“The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £45m in projects – large and small - that are marking this centenary.”

To volunteer for the year-long project, call museum curator Leona White-Hannant, on 01325-734125.