WHATEVER the weather, visitors enjoying the attractions at the North's £8m new railway museum next year will be running on energy provided by the elements.

The rain and the sun will provide some of the power driving locomotives and interactive displays at the Shildon Railway Village when it opens in the late summer of 2004.

The museum is one of 18 building projects across England and Wales sharing £2m of Government funding announced by energy minister Brian Wilson.

A £111,826 grant is meeting 65 per cent of the cost of incorporating renewable energy schemes into the building's design.

Solar panels on the roof will generate enough electricity to drive hi-tech displays in the main exhibition hall. A rainwater harvesting system on the roof will collect the pure water which is most suitable for the massive boilers powering the museum's old-fashioned steam locos.