The North East Branch of the Friends of National Railway Museum have managed to purchase the last Shildon built Merry Go Round (MGR) Wagon number HDA 368459.

Shildon Works built over 10,000 of these wagons with this last one being built in 1982.

The MGR wagons were used all over the country, collecting coal from the pits or docks and taking it direct to the power stations.

They were called MGR wagons as they could load and unload without stopping.

In May 2011 the wagon arrived back in Shildon and can be viewed at Locomotion. Work is now under way to conserve the MGR Wagon.

There is a display in Locomotion explaining how these wagons were manufactured and also how they were used on the railway system.

The group are delighted to have purchased this wagon as it is part of the town's heritage.

Currently in the Soho Shed at Locomotion there are a number of early coal wagons called chaldrons, dating from the 1820's onwards.