A PROJECT aims to create a permanent reminder of railway heritage with a £49,700 National Lottery grant.

A sound archive will be made of the past 50 years of North Yorkshire's railways and will help examine the demise of "railway families", where communities relied on the railways for survival.

It will form an extension of the National Archive of Railway Oral History (Naroh), which was gathered by the Friends of the National Railway Museum, in York, between 1999 and last year.

The recollections of about 500 railway employees were recorded for Naroh, resulting in more than 1,000 hours of reminiscences by people who worked at every level of the industry.

The grant will enable the friends to extend the archive to include recollections about the impact of the changes that have swept through the industry since nationalisation in 1948.

Group chairman Frank Paterson, a former regional manager of British Rail, said: "It is a very important period in the history of our rail industry, and the project aims to encourage people to talk about how it has affected them, their families and their communities."

Ian Carstairs, the chairman of the local Heritage Lottery Fund committee, said: "Not only is it important to record and remember these stories, but it is also a fascinating trip down memory lane for people of all ages to enjoy."

The archive is expected to take two years to complete.

Published: 22/04/2004