A historic York war memorial has been cleaned in time for Remembrance Day.
As previously reported by The Press, the 100-year-old North Eastern Railway War Memorial, in Station Rise, was set to be cleaned following several years of public pressure.
Network Rail, which is responsible for the century-old monument, received permission to clean the tribute to more than 2,700 railway workers who died during both world wars.
Using low pressure but high temperature steam jets, the Portland stone was cleaned over a seven-day period. The operation was completed in time for Armistice Day, on November 11, when wreaths will be laid to pay tribute to the fallen North Eastern Railway workers who died between 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.
Craig Hall, Network Rail senior programme manager, said: "We know how important the North Eastern Railway war memorial is for people in York and descendants of those whose lives it remembers.
"Now 100 years old, some of the inscriptions on the soft sandstone has weathered away, and we’ve been extremely mindful that any cleaning work did not do further damage.
"It has been a long time coming for this to be cleaned, we've had to do a lot of conservatory work in the background including a 3D scan of the memorial.
"We ended up going for a steam clean which has given us this great looking monument which we have now."
Craig added that they've "worked very closely" with local veterans, City of York Council and the Railway Heritage Trust during the process.
"We've been planning this for just over 12 months," he said.
"Once Remembrance Day and Armistice Day is complete we've got some minor repair works on the floor to be undertaken."
When complete, it’s expected to have cost £175,000 in total, with funding from both Network Rail and the Railway Heritage Trust.
Tim Hedley-Jones, director of the Railway Heritage Trust, added: "The Railway Heritage Trust has a proud history of supporting the restoration of railway war memorials.
"We are pleased to have supported Network Rail to clean and restore the North Eastern Railway War Memorial in York in its centenary year.
"It is a fitting reminder of the sacrifice so many railway workers made for their country in conflicts in the last hundred years."
This is the centenary of the war memorial which was dedicated by the Archbishop of York on June 14, 1924.
A formal wreath laying ceremony will take place on at 11am on Monday, November 11, attended by key rail industry figures, veterans, politicians and schoolchildren.
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