THE CAST of a critically acclaimed production of classic novel The Railway Children have celebrated the work of the author on what would have been her 157th birthday.

Edith Nesbit was born on August 15, 1858, and The Railway Children is her best known story, never having been out of print since it was published in 1905.

The cast of the York Theatre Royal production, which is performed in the purpose-built Signal Box Theatre in the National Railway Museum, blew out birthday candles in her honour in front of the Great Western Railway Pannier Tank 5775 – the locomotive that appeared in the well-loved 1970s film starring Jenny Agutter.

Edith Nesbit was the youngest daughter of an agricultural chemist and teacher. Her childhood was touched with tragedy – her father died suddenly when she was just four years old – and it is thought these experiences gave her inspiration for her later work.

The production has won extensive critical praise for its use of a live steam locomotive in a thrilling set-piece, and the loco is one of the biggest guest stars ever to grace the UK stage.

It was repainted at the National Railway Museum’s Shildon site late last year to reflect the fictional caramel-brown livery from the Lionel Jeffries movie, just in time for its star appearance.

The long-awaited homecoming of The Railway Children to York marks a new milestone in the seven-year partnership between the National Railway Museum and York Theatre Royal.

The production, which has received five-star reviews from The Stage, forms part of York Theatre Royal’s residency at the museum while the theatre undergoes its £4.1m redevelopment, and will run until September 5.

Rozzi Nicholson-Lailey, who plays Roberta, said: “More than 100 years before JK Rowling was famous, Edith Nesbit was writing especially for children. We’re really pleased to be marking her birthday as a way of saying thank you for her timeless story which we enjoy acting out every day on a real railway track in our very special Signal Box Theatre.”

The Railway Children played to sell out audiences in 2008 and 2009, with more than 24,000 audience members in 2008, and demand for tickets being so great that the last three weeks of the show was completely sold out.

It went on to be performed at Waterloo and in Toronto in 2010 and 2011, and is enjoying a successful run at London Kings Cross station.