RAINWATER could be used to help power steam trains at a new £8m North-East museum.

Experts are examining ways of "harvesting" rain to generate power for the massive boilers used by old-fashioned locos at the soon-to-be built Shildon Railway Village, in County Durham.

If the scheme gets the go-ahead, engineers will add an underground water-tank and a windmill to the development, which is due to open in 2004.

Council chiefs believe the development will inject new life into the town, which was once at the heart of the railway industry.

It is hoped the project will generate up to 50,000 visitors a year.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is to help fund the development with a £4.9m grant, which comes on top of an earlier grant of £350,000 from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Officials believe the museum will boost Shildon's Timothy Hackworth Museum.

The existing buildings and workshops will be combined with a new 6,000 sq ft building, which will house 60 vehicles from the York Railway Museum's national collection.

There will also be a shop, caf, classrooms and conservation workshops.