THE Lathalmond Railway Museum is getting on board with a nationwide campaign.

The attraction is joining organisations from as far afield as Cornwall, Suffolk, North Wales, North East Scotland and Northern Ireland who will take part in the Love Your Railway initiative to raise awareness of heritage railways.

The six week campaign – which started on Monday and is being spearheaded by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) – aims to shine a spotlight on not only the important work heritage railways do in conservation, education and research, but also how they have been affected by the pandemic.

Grant Robertson, trustee at Shed47 Railway Restoration Group, who operate Lathalmond Railway Museum, was pleased to be involved.

“We’re glad to be open again, and for the first time are open every Sunday this summer,” he said. “Being such a small group of only about 20 volunteers we were particularly hard hit by the lockdowns and restrictions over the last 18 months, but have managed to keep going and look forward to steam making a return to Lathalmond for the first time in over 50 years later in 2021.”

Chris Price, NYMR’s general manager, said: “There are more than 150 operational heritage railways, running trains over nearly 600 miles of track, which protect, conserve and bring to life part of the nation’s rich cultural heritage - giving enjoyment and learning to thousands of people every year,” he added. “We want to do all we can to raise awareness of every heritage railway across the country and the challenges we face; all the participating railways will be posting their own social content across the six themed weeks.”

The six themed weeks are Heritage, Education, Volunteers, Family, Sustainability and Future and the public can get involved by sharing their favourite memories and inspiring imagery from their visits, using the hashtag #LoveYourRailway.