A HISTORIC railway wagon is to be kept permanently in the town that spawned the railway industry.

Darlington Railway Museum, off North Road, initially had the chaldron No 434 wagon on loan from Beamish Museum, near Stanley, County Durham.

In return, Beamish had temporarily taken custody of a Head Wrightson No 33/1873 locomotive.

But Darlington Borough Council has now confirmed that the swap will be become permanent.

The chaldron wagon is said to be a good example of its type, dating from the 1860s, and has needed little repair.

Such wagons were in use on the North Eastern Railway until 1914 and were employed in collieries up to the 1950s.

The Museums' Documentation Association said it was satisfied with the details of the exchange in exhbits.