A RAILWAY museum is appealing for memories of Winston Churchill's funeral train to mark the 50th anniversary of his state funeral.

The National Railway Museum in York is collecting stories in time for Churchill's Final Journey from January 30 to May 3, when the funeral train will be on display in the museum's Great Hall.

The display will include archive footage of the funeral at St Paul's Cathedral in 1965, which was televised to millions worldwide, and will showcase newly-restored locomotive No. 34051 Winston Churchill, part of the museum's collection, which transported the former prime minister from London to his final resting place in Oxfordshire.

One story came from David Monk-Steel, from York, who worked as a clerk in an engineers office in 1965.

A keen spotter of steam locomotives, he made tracks for Clapham Junction where there were crowds of people gathering on the platform to see the funeral train pass by, with locomotive No. 34501 Winston Churchill at its head.

He said “The Police were in attendance but they did not seek to chase us away so we settled in to wait.

“The locomotive had three discs on the front in a ‘V’ formation, which on this occasion signified Churchill’s ‘V’ for victory hand gesture."

Jamie Taylor, interpretation developer at the National Railway Museum, said: “Churchill’s funeral was watched by 300 million people on television world wide and his last solemn journey by train has really stuck in people’s memories.

"We want the public to tell us their recollections of the great statesman’s final goodbye so we can share them with visitors in the run up to our commemoration of 50 years since this great rail journey.”

For more information including how to share your memories visit www.nrm.org.uk/churchill.