A RAILWAY enthusiast is celebrating a winning restoration project.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s head of traction and rolling stock, Paul Middleton, aka Piglet, is celebrating after the 131-year-old Belgian steam tram that he and his brother restored was named the clear winner of the 2021 Heritage Railway Association’s Steam Railway magazine award.

The tram, affectionately known as 'Lucie' was built in 1890 in the eastern province of Liege, Belgium.

After a working life that saw it operate everywhere from zinc mines to sugar factories, Lucie was restored by Dorothea Restorations in 1988, and ran at Peak Rail, before moving to the Middleton Railway in Leeds, in July 1995.

It was withdrawn in 2000 and remained in storage awaiting overhaul until 2017 – the year that Piglet and his brother, with support from their parents, purchased Lucie and moved it to Grosmont that September.

Piglet admits that, like many, he did not expect Lucie to win the Steam Railway award over the other candidates.

“It’s a genuine surprise,” he said. “There was some strong competition from other restoration projects, and I voted for Welsh Pony.”

When the railway re-opens in the Spring, people will be able to visit Lucie in the shed at Grosmont.