Due to donations received, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has been able to order over 1,000 tons of ballast.

Donations in just the last week have been enough to order 400 tons.

To complete the work at the site, they require 6,000 tons of ballast.

The ballast will be delivered to Darlington Locomotive Works to allow for new track to be laid.

The ballast is needed to lay the track that “The P-Way Gang” bought after raising £75,000. The trust has also acquired turnouts and points from Network Rail.

This track will connect the Darlington Locomotive Works to the mainline, with each metre of track requiring 1 ton of ballast they have a long way to go.

Volunteers have been hard at work to complete the first turnout north of the works, which is now almost complete. The army has also been helping to lay some of the track.

The connection to the mainline will allow No. 60163 Tornado (once completed) and No. 2007 Prince of Wales to return to the works for maintenance.

The trust has negotiated a rate of £22.50 per ton, which is delivered in 28 ton wagons.

Any donations are welcome to help them in their goal, the link can be found on their website.