Full Steam Ahead ...

For this week's Sunday Challenge for which the subject was straight lines.

This piece of public art which reputedly cost around £760,000 was created by artist David Mach to celebrate the rich railway heritage of Darlington and is officially named "TRAIN", but it's more often than not referred to by locals as the brick train.

Commissioned by Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC and Darlington Borough Council supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England it can be found on the outskirts of the town adjacent to the A66 where it has stood since the summer of 1997.

It's modelled as many of you will have spotted on Mallard, which in 1938 set the world speed record for steam locomotives at an astonishing 126 mph (203 km/h).

A total of 185,000 bricks were used to create this amazing sculpture along with 170 cubic meters of concrete. The train weighs 15,000 tonnes; covers an area of 600sq meters; is of hollow construction; measures 23ft high by 130ft long; and took a team of 34 brick layers, labourers and apprentices 21 weeks to build.

In addition, there are even 20 special ‘bat’ bricks built in at various places to encourage the nocturnal creatures to use it as their home, which might explain the whitish deposits that now cover much of the structure.

It is now regarded by local officials as a much-loved local landmark despite concerns initially about its cost and is certainly an impressive sight. However, I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed by the surrounding area as it felt somewhat neglected and forgotten, which is a shame given that it has just celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The planting around the site felt somewhat overgrown, signs were missing or damaged and the gravel path up to the supposed viewing platform was riven and rutted by rain meaning I doubt it would be easy to navigate with a pram or wheelchair.

That said it's still worth a visit if you're ever in the area if only to marvel at how the artist has managed to recreate a speeding train complete with billowing clouds of steam from ordinary straight-lined rectangular house bricks.

You might need to view this on black for best effect though to fully appreciate all those hundreds of straight lines.