THE MAN in charge of the largest collection of railway icons in the world says Swindon's Steam museum will only prosper if the town markets itself as a desirable tourist destination.

Richard Gibbon, the head of the engineering collection at the National Railway Museum in York, says Steam is excellent but faces a disadvantage because of its location.

Mr Gibbon said: "Swindon is in a different part of the world. It is not a tourist centre.

"In York we are the second most visited city outside London and Edinburgh.

"It is a natural tourist centre and there are more than 20 museums.

"People don't think about Swin-don as a place to go for the weekend.

"When it becomes attractive in its own right, then maybe things will get better for Steam.

"I can't fault the museum. It concentrates on people stories, which is good. It doesn't just present people with lumps of metal.

"It explains the significance of the railways to people's lives, whether it was taking them on holiday or a place of work."

Visitor numbers at Steam for the first two months of the financial year have exceeded targets after a long period of falling numbers.

In April, 6,797 visitors were expected but the actual figure was 8,178 and the upward trend continued in May when 5,840 people paid to tour the museum, up 610 on the predicted figure of 5,230. Steam's visitor numbers have fallen dramatically since 2001, when it attracted 94,800.

Last year was down almost 10,000 on 2001, with 85,000, and 79,000 were predicted to visit this year.

It was predicted that around 200,000 people a year would visit Steam when the £13m museum opened in mid-2000.

A key difference between the York museum and Swindon is that entry is free in York and Steam tickets cost £5.95 for adults and £3.80 for children.

But Mr Gibbon says an entrance fee is not a total deterrent for visitors.

He was in Swindon to advise Steph Gillet at the Wroughton Science Museum on how to recruit volunteers to help with museum activities. The Science Museum is in the process of establishing a project called the Creative Planet, which aims to be a centre of information about sustainable development.

"Wroughton is about to flourish from being tiny to being huge. Hopefully that should encourage more people to visit both museums," said Mr Gibbon.

Tim Bryan, acting manager of Steam, said: "We have always been aware that Swindon is not a natural tourist attraction but we are trying our best to tackle that situation.

"The museum should be one of the reasons why people are visiting the town. The exhibition is of the highest quality. We can't compare Swindon to York. York has an international market."