THE North York Moors Railway has said that several of the recently vandalised carriages on its heritage railway may be back in action soon.

The organisation said it is "overwhelmed" by the generosity of volunteers and the public in getting its carriages back on the rails after they were badly vandalised at the weekend.

Chris Price, North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s General Manager said: “On both Tuesday and Wednesday evening the local community and railway volunteers donated their time in helping the carriage and wagon department in the initial clean-up of the carriages.

"Offers from the local community have included the replacement of the fire extinguishers, a painter and decorator to revamp the inside and outside of the carriages, a glazier to replace the window panes, an electrical wholesaler offering to replace light fittings and an electrician to install them."

In the wake of the vandalism, donations poured in to aid the repair work.

Mr Price added: "We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity and support from our local community and volunteers, who have not only offered cash donations but also helped clean-up our historic teak carriages.

"We remain committed to restoring the set to its former glory and are hoping that one or two of the carriages will be up and running in the next week or so.

"We’re absolutely open as usual and are determined to continue giving our visitors a memorable day out.”

The railway uploaded a video to their social media pages to give people a flavour of the damage.

Laura Strangeway, marketing manager for the railway, said that it's likely that three of the carriages will be out of action for the season, but that the railway's focus now is on 'keeping calm and carrying on'.

"We want people to come and visit - we are open and running in our peak season," she said.