Hotels near the Brick Train

Commissioned in 1994 by Darlington Borough Council, David Mach's extraordinary life-size brick model of one of Sir Nigel Gresley's distinctive A4 class locomotives is the largest contemporary public sculpture in Britain.

Unveiled in 1998 and made out of specially fired-again "Accrington Nori" brick, common to that used by the local railways, this is a thrilling evocation of Darlington's principal industry. The idea of speed is created by the billowing smoke plume that issues forth from the train's funnel, all in the distinctive red brick.

A major icon for the town, the train is a testament to not only artist David Mach but the many collaborators - architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, bricklayers, mortar experts and more. There are more than 185,000 bricks in the piece, and the artist is keen to expand the sculpture backwards, expanding the smoke plume and potentially creating a whole building behind it, as well as landscaping the land around it to enhance its wonderful effect.