A GREAT North-East tradition will get the celebration it deserves later this year, with the long-awaited opening of a multi-million pound railway village.

The interactive Shildon Railway Village is far from finished, but a sneak preview tour of the site promises an exciting venture, bound to tempt even the most reluctant of trainspotters.

On a tour around the windswept site, the ongoing construction work, empty buildings and half-finished railway tracks bear little resemblance to artists' impressions of the finished village.

But as museum manager George Muirhead walks through the site, detailing the history, the thought process and what is still to come, it becomes apparent, even through the cold rain, that the site has the potential to become one of the biggest family attractions in the North-East.

"This area has such a rich heritage and a number of extremely significant contributions to the rail industry have come from the town," said Mr Muirhead.

"We wanted to create a really enjoyable place for local people to celebrate these achievements, and also bring tourists and people of all ages to the region."

The £10m village will stretch for more than a kilometre and incorporate the existing Timothy Hackworth Museum.

It is designed to be both functional and educational, but with more than 60 vehicles on display, digital features, extensive artwork and ride on a replica train, the phrase "brings history to life" could have been coined for the project.

The joint venture is the brainchild of the Timothy Hackworth Museum, Sedgefield Borough Council and the National Rail Museum in York, with funding from range of sources, including the council, One NorthEast and the European Regional Development Fund.

"The whole idea came about as a happy coincidence," said Mr Muirhead.

"The rail museum was looking for somewhere to display their engine that had been away in storage, and the council was looking for partner to expand this area, so it all came together.

" A lot of team work has been involved, and we all feel very confident about the project."

Visitors will start their village tour at the Timothy Hackworth Museum, which explores the life of the North-East engineer on the site where he lived and worked.

A nearby former Sunday school is to be converted into a visitors' centre, complete with displays, maps and books about the village.

It will also display the remains of the original model of Hackworth's Sans Pareil locomotive, which was built just yards away from where it will stand.

The new locomotive museum, which will house more than 60 engines, stands almost a kilometre away from the centre, with visitors given the choice of walking or taking a minibus service.

On Sundays, a more authentic mode of travel is on offer when an exact replica of the Sans Pareil will ferry up to 35 people at a time on the ten-minute rail journey between the two sites.

A subtle reminder of the link between historic and modern rail travel can be seen where a short stretch of the track runs closely parallel to the current Bishop Auckland to Darlington line.

The route to the new museum passes an open space which will eventually be filled with a £90,000 piece of artwork.

Four very different artists have been shortlisted for the commission, with the final decision to be made this month.

On the other side of the track, visitors can see several historic points of interest, including one of the few surviving examples of Black Boy stables, and coal drops dating back to the start of the Stockton and Darlington railway.

Work is ongoing on the huge glass museum, which will be home to vehicles including the advanced passenger train prototype, the Aerolite, a snow plough dating back to 1891, and a 25-tonne breakdown crane used on derailments.

The display will be changed regularly, with models traded between the village and the rail museum in York.

Train tracks leading out of the museum pass an outdoor picnic and play area, which will be built largely based on designs suggested by Shildon schoolchildren.

Although it is hoped the village will attract 60,000 visitors a year, the project is ultimately a community one, aimed at celebrating the town in both a historic and modern sense.

"People really want the museum to succeed and want something in Shildon that they can be proud of," said Mr Muirhead.

"People living here have been very much involved in the whole exercise right from the start.

"We have been asking people all along for their input on what they think and what they want from the museum and the response has been overwhelmingly positive."

Features will be put in place specifically to develop strong links between the village and the town, such as the interactive Time Tracks machine, which gives people the chance to record their memories through recordings, photographs and documents to help build a digital display of social history.

The grand opening of the village is still many months away, but with the development running to schedule, Mr Muirhead is feeling optimistic.

"It's a very exciting time," he said. "The project will be a positive thing for the area and a real celebration of what has been achieved here.

"It is a major challenge and a long time coming, but once finished it will be absolutely worth the wait.