A heritage museum has come to the aid of Coronation Street's railway anorak Roy Cropper.

His caf in the popular soap is to have a face-over and Roy has turned to the Keighley-based Vintage Carriage's Trust for help.

He is to decorate his business with railway relics -- including a five-foot-long red and white signal arm, paraffin lamps, bridge plates, framed pictures, flags and hats.

Production staff made a whistle stop tour of the museum at Ingrow and bought a shed-load of memorabilia, to the value of almost £600.

Bob Stott, museum manager, of Coronation Way, Keighley, said: "I got a telephone call from a member of the Street's production staff wanting to know if we had a pair of signals -- she wanted a red and white and yellow and white signal.

"I said we had a red and white one and she said she would come to the shop.

"She arrived with a producer and when they saw all that we had, they decided to take a load of stuff."

They attacked the museum's shelves and piled the memorabilia on the shop floor before bundling it into a car.

"They bought so much, I threw in some notices like what to do in an air raid," Bob added.

Museum trustee Paul Holroyd said: "We are more used to providing the big items like our carriages for film sets. This was unusual.

"I'm not a big fan of the soap but I do see it -- and I will keep my eye out for the items appearing to satisfy my curiosity."

He said the museum had previously provided some small props for television, including the the BBC's Born and Bred series, but not on this scale.

A Granada television spokesman said Roy was a fan of buses and trains and the railway props would be used to reflect his passion.

"It will give some authenticity to the set. There will be no strict story line as such -- they will be there to reflect his character," he said.

The items were bought about a month ago and it will be some weeks before they appear on the show.

The Vintage Carriages Trust has nine historic railway carriages, dating from 1876 to 1950, and three small industrial locomotives.

The shop is open every day except Christmas Day, from 11am-4.30pm.

Details of the carriage trust's history and about the museum are available on the web site at vintagecarriagestrust.org.