A train that was built 115 years ago in York is set to return to the tracks again tomorrow.

The autocar, first built in 1903 by North Eastern Railway at York Carriage Works, has received a £500,000 renovation thanks to a grant from the national heritage and will be launched from midday on Friday, October 19, at Embsay Station, Skipton.

The pioneer behind the scheme, Stephen Middleton, from Harrogate, set up a charitable trust consisting of 150 members that all helped to restore the train.

He said: “I first saw the train in a field in Kirkbymoorside. After three years of negotiation with the landowner I was able to purchase it for £1,000.

“I have a selection of renovated Victorian coaches but my conscious wouldn’t let me do it to the autocar. Only two of these models were ever built so it was a dream to be able to help get one back on the tracks.

“It is particularly pleasant to see a train built at the Holgate Road Carriage Works, a thriving factory for trains for over 100 years, back up and running.”

The autocar is credited by the Guinness World Records as being the world’s first internal combustion electrical autocar, the origin of todays passenger trains, running on British railways between 1903 and 1931.

It is scheduled for regular public services in 2019 on the ten mile Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway, with the possibility of visits elsewhere in the future.

Mr Middleton added: “The Trust's engineers constructed a replacement chassis around an adapted Great Northern Railway underframe and a new Darlington built diesel power unit from Cummins.

“Also, the Trust has also restored an unpowered trailer coach, also from the North Eastern Railway, built in 1904.

“This will allow a truly unique Edwardian Diesel Multiple Unit to be operated and the Trust is very grateful to the NER coach group at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for donating this coach.

“We could not have restored the Autocar without the Heritage Lottery Fund and the support of National Lottery players.

“As well as the grant award, we were also fortunate in receiving support from PRISM and the Ken Hoole Trust. The Transport Trust also advanced a loan facility of £46,000

“I am immensely proud of our achievement in restoring this 'missing link' between the steam and diesel eras.”