ONE of East Lancashire's most celebrated tourist attractions is on track to visit a TV screen near you tonight.

Hollyoaks stars visited East Lancashire Railway earlier this year to film scenes for a dramatic new storyline in the Channel 4 programme.

And shots of the Ramsbottom to Heywood line will be seen in tonight's episode as the soap's infamous McQueen family are involved in a horrific train crash.

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Hollyoaks producers bought three train carriages and hired the railway track for two-and-a-half weeks to create the dramatic stunts.

Peter Duncan, chairman of the railway, said the influx of production companies based at Media City in Salford had brought a host of work to East Lancashire.

He said: "It stems from a lot more production being based there. Obviously we're not too far away and they would never be able to do the stunts on a fully operational railway.

"People in media circles talk to one another and we seem to have earned a good reputation for helping them out. It's a pretty tall order to do a train smash but they did it very well.

"I think we exceeded their expectations. We even transported the staff up on the railway. In terms of the research and attention to detail they did, it was excellent.

"I was on set for some of the shooting and it certainly looked spectacular."

A trailer was aired on Friday and tonight's episode will see actresses Gemma Merna and Jennifer Metcalfe - who play Carmel and Mercedes McQueen - injured while celebrating their cousin's wedding.

At least one major cast member is set to be killed in the explosion that follows.

Mr Duncan added: "In terms of the spin off, we should see an increase in visitors from this like we did after Coronation Street filmed here."