Stockton Flyer
Art In Stockton on Tees, North Yorkshire
An automated mechanical ‘steam train’which appears every day tooting and clacking.
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Every day, with the accuracy that the Red Arrows exude, the Stockton Flyer starts chuffing from a plinth at 13:00 and is fully visible at 13:06. It is an aspiring mechanical boffin's delight.
The sculpture is normally hidden within a stone plinth near Stockton-on-Tees Town Hall. The sculpture is a stylised steam locomotive, inspired by George and Robert Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1. At 1:06 p.m. each day, (the delayed arrival time of the Locomotive), the sculpture emerges from the plinth, moves, blows its whistle and emits smoke. When fully emerged, the sculpture measures 7 metres (23 ft) in height, including the plinth.
Wikipedia
[The creator] Rob Higgs is a mechanical sculptor, automata maker and inventor. Based in Penryn in Cornwall, he designs and creates mechanical sculptures, contraptions and eccentric machines, using salvaged materials found in old farmsteads, boatyards and scrapheaps. Rob's extensive list of clients include, the Science Museum, the Eden Project, the Sultan of Brunei, the BBC, Warner Bros, Fatboy Slim, Stephen Fry, Heston Blumenthal, schools, parks, theatre groups, charities and, of course, Stockton Borough Council, who commissioned the building of the Stockton Flyer in 2013.
Stockton Flyer Website
Basically, it's a jack-in-the-box steam train, where its lid opens, it rises and wobbles, dances, whistles and sounds bells, then reverses and tucks itself away again.
Rob Higgs, in a YouTube video about the creation of the Stockton Flyer
The body is from a ship's buoy out of Falmouth Harbour. It uses a running machine motor and a steam-making machine. The whistles are authentic, one being from an American steam train, and it has bullet marks in it! The wheels have a rotational motion which creates a sense of movement.
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How To Find Stockton Flyer
Where To Park For Stockton Flyer?
There is a parking area right next to it.
Contributed by Rosalind Parker
Thank you for reading. I hope it sparks your interest. It’s always a pleasure to get out and explore, whatever the weather. I enjoy uncovering little snippets of information, especially when they’re obscure, amusing, or meaningful. All photos were taken on a mobile phone.
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