Try on old-fashioned railway life for size

The historic piece of uniform was donated to the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York seven years ago by Malcolm Dilworth, who was yesterday given a glimpse of the repaired clothing.

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company jacket, which belonged to Mr Dilworth's grandfather, James Dilworth, dates from 1914 and is part of the NRM's extensive uniform collection, which includes about 4,800 items.

It is also one of a small group of rare surviving uniforms from the Pre-Grouping era, when the London, Midland & Scottish Great Western, Southern and London & North Eastern railways took over the running of the country's rail network in 1923.

Heritage volunteers from the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS) have been trained and supervised by the NRM's conservators and curators to carry out condition checks and research the railway uniform collection which includes Mr Dilworth's jacket.

The scheme will enable prioritised sections of the collection to be digitised, increasing access to the national collection at the NRM.

Mr Dilworth, from Storrington in West Sussex, said: "I inherited the jacket from my aunt and thought that the NRM would be the best place for it. I'm really pleased to see the care and attention the volunteers from NADFAS have taken with it.

"When I first saw my grandfather's jacket it was covered in more than seventy years of dust, but now it looks fantastic.

"I'm glad that more people will get the chance to access it and find out more about railway uniforms and the people like my grandfather who wore them."

Examining the items during the condition checks has given the volunteers an insight into the lives of the people who wore the uniforms when working on the railways.

NADFAS group leader, Alyne Ledger, said: "This is a very interesting project for us and everyone involved is really enjoying the stories that are emerging.

"We found some tobacco in one of the jacket pockets which helped us to visualise what the owner might be like.

"There was also a pair of trousers that made us laugh, they had a very wide waistband and had been taken up – probably by the wife of the owner – to make the legs very short.

"We immediately thought of the Fat Controller."