Fans of steam-powered trains are being given the chance to own a share of a company which restores and promotes trips on the iconic vehicles.
Vintage Trains, which runs Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham, hopes to raise £3 million from the share offer which it said would help put the city on the map as a globally important tourist destination.
The company said this was the first initial public offering of its kind for more than 100 years and the move is expected to create up to 11 full-time roles.
Community share members will have voting rights, travel benefits on the company's services and, after six years, members may also have the opportunity to receive interest payments on their shares and to withdraw their share capital.
Vintage Trains restores and cares for a collection of historic steam engines and carriages at the Locomotive Works in Tyseley, preserving traditional skills and ensuring steam locomotives from a bygone era remain in everyday service for people to enjoy.
The company has also promoted express steam train excursions to destinations including York, Oxford and the Cotswolds for a number of years but said it now needed to raise £3 million to secure the future of the historic trains.
Through the share offer and investment, Vintage Trains said it was hoping to boost Birmingham's tourist economy by running an increased programme of trips and additional services to attract visitors from the UK and abroad alongside educational programmes.
The company will work to deliver a heritage gateway to the city, incorporating both the grade I-listed 1832 Curzon Street station and the 1906 GWR restored city Moor Street station terminus.
Vintage Trains wants to create an apprenticeship and training scheme to preserve and develop locomotive and carriage engineering skills in order to continue the tradition of carriage building and maintenance at Tyseley under the name Metropolitan Railway Carriage & Wagon Co.
This company built royal saloons for emperors and princesses in Argentina and China, dining and sleeping cars for the Orient Express, suburban carriages for commuter trains, trains for for Le Shuttle and Virgin Pendolino and the East African coach from which a man-eating lion dragged a British engineer to his untimely death.
Chairman Michael Whitehouse said: "This offer is for everyone who believes there is magic in the sight, sound and smell of a steam locomotive pulling out of a station or hurtling across the countryside and for everyone who wants to experience the thrill.
"Together, we will create a new golden age, for new generations and put Birmingham back on the map as the hub for rail innovation."
