Olivier Award for Railway Children production

The play's star attraction is a real steam locomotive

York Theatre Royal is celebrating after winning a prestigious Olivier award.

The theatre's innovative production of the Railway Children won the Best Entertainment award at the annual theatre awards in London.

The award was for the production staged in the disused Eurostar terminal at London's Waterloo Station.

This version of the classic children's story, featuring a real steam locomotive, was first performed at York's National Railway Museum (NRM).

The production was three years in the planning before it reached the purpose-built stage in a railway shed in York during the summer of 2008.

The Railway Children The Railway Children was published in 1906, and is the story of three children, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis, whose lives change dramatically after their father is arrested on suspicion of being a spy. They move with their mother from London, to a cottage near a railway line in rural Yorkshire, where they hope to one day see their father again. They gradually adapt to their changed circumstances and finally become part of the community when they bravely prevent a rail disaster.

A rail track ran through the auditorium at the museum with 30ft (9.14m) long platforms either side of the track.

The acting took place on both platforms and on various stages on rails, which moved up and down the full length of the railway shed.

Complex production

Speaking to BBC Radio York in 2008, the theatre's artistic director, Damian Cruden, explained the complexity of the production:

"We built a theatre in a space that is not a theatre. We needed a railway track and we built the theatre around that track."

The highlight of the show was the appearance of a real steam locomotive.

The success of the original 2008 production saw a return to the NRM in 2009 and then it was the turn of London audiences to enjoy the spectacle.

The London show, which ran until January 2011, has been seen by 165,000 people and was performed in a purpose-built 1000 seat theatre on the old Eurostar tracks at Waterloo Station.

The show will make its international debut in Canada later this year.

The Olivier Awards

The Laurence Olivier Awards were created in 1976, then called the Society West End Theatre Awards, to recognise excellence on the London stage.

They were rebranded in 1984 when Lord Olivier agreed to have his name associated with them.