A MAJOR £190,000 visitor centre showing the history of the railways across the North York Moors has opened at a popular visitor attraction.

The North York Moors Railway has opened the venture at Pickering Station, in North Yorkshire, as part of an upgrade of the station.

The railway staff have raised part of the funding and £120,000 came from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £33,000 from Yorwaste.

The Yorventure Visitor Centre attraction was opened by Steve Grieve, chief executive of Yorwaste, on October 22.

Phil Bustard, of the railway, said: "It went brilliantly and there are many attractions here for people to enjoy of all ages.

"Inside there are display boards and interpretation boards. There’s also a large map on display which shows the whole of the North York Moors Railway.

"There’s also what we call smoke boxes which look like the front of steam engines. Once you go inside of them there are the sights and smells of the railway."

The visitor centre is open daily from 9am to 5pm with free entry on platform two of the station.

Yorwaste has also handed the railway staff £20,000 more in funding to set up a picnic area near the station.

The North York Moors Railway is also hoping to raise £50,000 to help it repair the station’s roof with people sponsoring a roof slate for £5.

It will be a replica of the original GT Andrews roof of 1846 and is expected to be completed by the end of March 2011.

Visit www.thetrainofthought.co.uk for details.