Keighley Yorkshire England United Kingdom - A new railway museum opens in Keighley this May, following seven years of hard work by volunteers.
 
The £150,000 Ingrow Locomotive Museum has been developed by the Keighley-based Bahamas Locomotive Society.
 
It tells the story of the steam locomotive with displays covering model railways, train spotting, and locomotive engineering.
 
The museum is based in the former Midland Railway goods warehouse at Ingrow Railway Station, on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.
 
It is only yards away from the existing Museum of Rail Travel run by the Ingrow Carriages Trust.
 
The Bahamas Society was set up in 1967 to buy and preserve the former LMS Railway Jubilee class steam loco 45596 Bahamas.
 
The society ran a railway centre in Derbyshire for more than two decades, then was forced to find a new home for its collection.
 
In 1996, six years after moving to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, the society was awarded an £87,000 lottery grant.
 
Extra fundraising boosted the fund to £150,000 as volunteers gradually converted the old goods shed into a state-of-the-art visitor centre.
 
The building is split into two parts, one a workshop, with facilities and equipment for overhauling steam locomotives.
 
The adjoining public area illustrates the role played by the steam locomotive in the economic and industrial development of the United Kingdom.
 
The society hopes the exhibits will explain the fascination steam has aroused in the minds of the people.
 
On display are drawings, photographs, tools, models, and the society's own locomotives.
 
Dr. Simon Bryant, chairman of the Bahamas Society, said its members were made more than welcome by the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.
 
He said:  "When we left Derbyshire many people thought the society was finished. However, our members were determined to rebuild for the future. This has taken over seven years, a mammoth undertaking for a small society, and I feel we can now face the future with confidence. We have a workshop and museum to be proud of, and can at last get on with working on our locomotives."
 
The museum will be formally opened on 17 May 2003, at 14:00, by David Morgan, chairman of Heritage Railway Association.
 
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