The National Railway Museum will be alive with the sound of music and theatre as part of the celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the train.

Bands playing in a lively mix of musical styles and the museum's own theatre group, Platform 4, will be performing daily at the NRM's newly extended Leeman Road site during Railfest, which runs from 29 May to 6 June.

To add to the entertainment there will also be a programme of classic film footage throughout the festival.

TRAIN KEPT A' ROLLIN ...

Musical attractions at the festival include the Doghouse Skiffle Band. Playing infectious, foot-tapping, goodtime skiffle music made famous by such greats as Lonnie Donegan and Woody Guthrie, this Hull-based band has been packing out local venues and is becoming hot property nationally. The Doghouse Skiffle Band will be performing on 4, 5 & 6 June.

Also appearing will be Whitby's Roger Sutcliffe. His bottleneck blues is perfectly suited to performing "train songs" and can sometimes be heard drifting across the North Yorkshire Moors as Roger performs on the county's working steam railways. He will be at the NRM on 1 June.

Completing the bill of musical treats are: folk duo Nebula, whose song "Right Side of the Tracks" is a crowd favourite; award winning busker J.B. Butterfield; Middlesbrough-born hillbilly; ragtime musician Eddie Walker; and former Stationmaster turned folk singer Stanley Accrington.

ENTER SIDING RIGHT ...

The celebrations would not be complete without the NRM's very own theatre company, Platform 4, bringing some of the most colourful and influential railway figures to life with a series of shows:-

Strong Steam sees the inventor of the first working steam engine, Richard Trevithick step forward 200 hundred years to tell us about his breakthrough.

The Newcastle Rocket features Fanny Kemble, a young actress who became besotted with George Stephenson when they met on Rocket. Describing Stephenson as 'a master' with whom she was 'horribly in love', Fanny shows us a man most people know only as a railway pioneer from a uniquely fresh angle.

Brunel's Billiard Table brings one of the greatest engineers in history to York. Among Isambard Kingdom Brunel's many achievements was his pioneering role as Chief Engineer of the Great Western Railway between London and Bristol, which was completed in 1841.

Eggs to Elephants is a two-person extravagance about the wild and wonderful things carried by the railways in the heyday of steam, when the train was the way to travel. This was an age when entire circuses moved across the UK by train, and the show brilliantly brings this magical era of rail transit to life.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, STEAM ...

To complement the live performances, a continuous programme of classic documentary film footage from British Transport Films will be shown daily.

Highlights include The 3rd Sam, a black and white 'short' from 1962 about the change from diesel to steam with a narration by classic British comic, Stanley Holloway. Diesel Train Ride is a full colour treat from 1959 showing passengers and staff enjoying what was then the latest in train comfort - a ride on a 'modernisation plan' diesel train.

Also showing is Round Trip To Glasgow, a 1983 film presented by ex-Blue Peter presenter, Peter Purvis, introducing the Advanced Passenger Train (APT), the original version of the tilting train. Never previously shown in public, it is a must-see piece of nostalgia for train enthusiasts and TV fans of a certain age!

Summing up the live entertainment at Railfest, Bob Gwynne, Project Manager, said: "Over the last 200 years the railways have inspired a tremendous heritage of music, theatre and film in this country, and indeed across the world. We're delighted to be able to reflect this with the music, theatre and films featuring in our celebration."

Updated: 12:40 Wednesday, May 19, 2004