ONE of the oldest industrial buildings in the North-East will become more accessible to visitors thanks to the efforts of a group of museum volunteers.

The Soho building, which lies at the centre of Locomotion: National Railway Museum, Shildon, County Durham, will now be open every Sunday throughout this month.

The building was a part of railway pioneer Timothy Hackworth's Soho works and houses a host of exhibits connected with the engineer's life.

It is not normally open fully to visitors, but volunteers from The Hackworth Society have offered to man it during the summer season and provide visitors with information about key exhibits.

The building houses the Chaldron Wagon, used in 1925 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway 100th anniversary celebrations, Hackworth's locomotive Braddyl, and the Stockton and Darlington Railway locomotive water tender Etherley, which was built by William Lister at Darlington in 1840. The Soho Work's stationary engine is also housed there