Heritage railway members are restoring an historic engine that helped in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway has launched a £100,000 project to restore the S160 Big Jim to its former glory.

When completed in about four years, it will be decked out in its old military colours of battleship grey with "US Army Transportation Corp" emblazoned on the tender.

Some of the first parts to arrive on site at the Haworth yard are two sets of bogies all the way from China.

They have been sourced from the country because the Chinese are still manufacturing loco parts suitable for steam engines.

"The parts arrived just before Christmas and the team involved in the restoration couldn't wait to get the box opened -- it was like a Christmas present," said the railway's Ralph Ingham. The equipment had been sent from Harbin, China, the town which in December suffered a toxin chemical spillage into its major river.

It still manufactures locomotive parts, many of the designs based on American patterns first copied from rail stock which arrived in the country after the Second World War.

Big Jim, a Second World War US Army Transportation Corp engine, was bought from Poland by the heritage line in the 1970s and ran along the five-mile line between Keighley and Oxenhope until about ten years ago.

It was commissioned to play a major role in the John Schlesinger movie Yanks, much of which was shot in Keighley and along the Worth Valley in 1978.

It was removed from service because the bogies on the tender had become very worn.

The overhaul involves stripping down the engine to its component parts.

Volunteers have already removed the boiler, cab and the rolling gear.

The latest parts came in two steel, 8ft long by 5ft wide and 3ft high containers, comprising the wheel sets, frames and springs. There were also some Christmas goodies, in the form of an automatic door trap for the firebox and an American chime whistle -- which has a more melodic tone than the standard BR whistle.

The S160 was built in thousands and was used in Britain throughout the war, ferrying freight and war munitions about the country.

It was a familiar sight along the Aire Valley line.

When the Germans began to retreat, the engines were shipped over to Europe to help in securing the victory.

"They were actually built just to last about 15 years but many were still useful up to the 1970s," Mr Ingham added.