POPPY LINE'S HISTORIC TRAIN WINS MAJOR NATIONAL AWARD

The 84-years-old wooden-bodied Quad-Art train, built to carry North London commuters on an intensive steam service but now restored and running on the Poppy Line, has won the North Norfolk Railway a major award from the Heritage Railway Association.

The train, rebuilt over four years with the help of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, is described by the National Railway Museum as "the most important piece of heritage rolling stock in the country". Its design pioneered the articulated carriage technology now used on Eurostar and other very high speed trains.  The award was given for the rescue and restoration of the train and the provision of covered accommodation for its continued upkeep.

North Norfolk Railway director Clive Morris, who masterminded the restoration programme, said: "This is tremendous recognition for our volunteers and for the craftsman at our contractors, West Coast Railways in Cumbria, whose meticulous workmanship has brought a key piece of railway history vividly alive again."  And spokesman Colin Borg added: "You don't have to be a train buff to appreciate this wonderful piece of 1920s Jazz Age transport history. Sit in one of its spartan compartments, and you can easily imagine the hundreds of city clerks scrambling to board the 5.35pm home."