The railway's 15,000 annual visitors will be able to watch progress

Enthusiasts at the Welsh Highland Railway are trying to raise �100,000 to restore the tank engine, which is similar to one which ran on the line to Porthmadog until the 1930s.

The engine has been untouched for years and ended up at the Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire.

It arrived at the railway on Friday and was lifted by crane from a trailer.

The 1917 loco is on permanent loan to the railway, which intends to restore it to working order.

The American-built Baldwin tank engine was one of many used originally in France where it carried troops and munitions to the trenches.

Later it was exported to India where it worked on a sugar plantation.

A sister engine, known as 590, was a regular sight pulling trains to Dinas near Caernarfon on the old Welsh Highland line - under the operation of a Colonel Stephens - from 1923 until it closed in 1937.

The sister engine in Porthmadog three years before the line closed

Railway chairman Dave Allen said: "Colonel Stephens was well known for running the railway on a shoestring and he bought it from old War Department surplus for a bargain price of �260.

"It was never popular with the crews, it was rough to ride and the controls were all on a different side.

"But it served its purpose, although they were quick to scrap it after the line closed."

'Fitting tribute'

The appeal is carrying the name of the former vice-chairman of Welsh Highland Railway, Peter Thomason.

He died last September in a road accident, aged 49, only weeks after helping to draw up a deal with the museum to move the engine to Porthmadog on permanent loan.

Mr Allen said: "Peter was instrumental in getting the engine here and was involved in the railway from the age of 18.

"We can't think of a more fitting tribute than to name the appeal in his memory - and eventually there will be a brass plaque on the engine."

The engine arrived by trailer from the Imperial War Museum - only a handful are known to remain.

The railway expects it will take up to five years to restore the engine, although it is hoped to complete it sooner.

Professional help may also be needed with the boiler and a replacement could cost �45,000.

Mr Allen said: "The Baldwin has been left out in the rain for 50 years and is covered in rust, but the main bits are still all there.

"Working on steam locos is a messy job, so rust isn't new - there won't be anything we haven't seen before!"