AN Aladdin's Cave of railway objects will be on display to the public for the first time when Steam opens its storehouse next weekend.

The new feature opens on Saturday, in time for the start of the summer holidays and it is hoped the new attraction will help turn around disappointing visitor figures recorded by the museum since its opening two years ago.

The display is part of the museum's huge reserve collection and will give visitors the opportunity to explore the collection in storehouse surroundings, with objects on display on pallets.

Large items, such as boiler trucks and hand carts will be on display alongside smaller objects such as tickets and whistles. The walls of the storehouse will carry famous GWR and Diesel nameplates and original items such as headboards, furniture from the boardroom, signalling equipment and beautifully crafted locomotive models.

The new attraction will become a permanent feature of the Steam experience, with the aim of offering visitors more unique objects and real pieces of history to see, touch and explore.

Steam marketing manager Emma Valentine said: "The new exhibition is a great way of showing off the Aladdin's Cave of objects we have in the collection."

The storehouse is also home to wooden lion heads that used to adorn Queen Victoria's Royal Carriage, a model of the Severn Tunnel Pumping engine and the spare bell for King George V all are a part of the story of the golden age of the railways.

The National Railway Museum in York and the London Transport Museum at Covent Garden have similar displays.

The collection will constantly grow, with objects being regularly donated to the museum by the public.

Steam tells the story of the men and women who built the world's greatest locomotives, a success story of 150 years. It also celebrates the genius and vision of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the engineers who followed him.

It is the only UK museum to receive the European Museum of The Year Award Special Commendation 2002.