IT takes something big to capture something of the immensity of work completed in the North-East at the height of the industrial age.
But that is exactly what Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham is to do by building a £1.6m replica of a 1913 engineering works designed to house of the biggest artefacts of our industrial past.
Work began on the new building yesterday, as chairman of the museum, Councillor John Mawston, cut the first sod.
Funding for the building has come from the National Lottery, and national and regional museum support organisations.
It will house ship engines and trains, as well as other machinery. The largest object will be an engine weighing 110 tonnes.
It is hoped the collection will become one of the most important in the world.
Coun Mawston said: "This project will become a role model for museums throughout the country."
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