Celebrating History, Heritage and Innovation: Reflections on Ghost Train

In September 2025, Walk the Plank worked with Avanti Display’s creative team to produce Ghost Train in Stockton and Darlington, one of the largest commissions in the UK in recent years. The result of two years of collaboration with Avanti Display’s Bill Palmer, Andy Plant, Chris Squire and Bryan Tweddle, this ambitious project challenged us to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the world’s first passenger railway. Ghost Train featured fire, music, projection, performance and close work with multiple communities and schools from across the region to create a moment of national significance deeply rooted in the identity of the Northeast. 

Celebrating history is never just about looking back, it’s about understanding how the past continues to shape the places we live in today. Walk the Plank’s work is grounded in the belief that creativity can illuminate the stories we inherit, and that bringing people together through shared cultural experiences can help strengthen a sense of place. 

For me personally, Ghost Train was the largest-scale production I have ever worked on, not only in terms of creative ambition, but also the historical and social responsibility underpinning the work. Ghost Train perfectly encapsulated the challenges and joys of balancing heritage with new creative expression. As the finale to a year-long celebration, the project had to honour the birth of the passenger railway while also reflecting on the huge changes the UK has undergone since the Industrial Revolution. In the Northeast especially, the legacy of engineering, industry and ingenuity runs deep, and we felt a strong duty to celebrate both the region’s heritage and the innovators shaping its future. 

At its heart was a reimagined full-scale Loco Number One, painstakingly researched and built by Avanti Display, followed by six Nissan Micra “carriages,” each transformed into an installation referencing a technological milestone that has reshaped our world over the past 200 years — from the power of steam to the creation of unified “railway time” and advances in space exploration. The train honours the innovation of 200 years ago; the Micras nod to the region’s more recent industrial story; and the final leap into space celebrates the present and future innovators who continue to push boundaries. 

The entire train was fuelled by ‘coal of the future’, created by more than 900 Darlington primary school children, displaying their ideas for future inventions that could change the world. Think flying cars and climate change reversers!  

From the outset, we all – the creative and production team - recognised that the success of this project relied on being rooted in place. The story of the Stockton & Darlington Railway is not an abstract piece of history: it belongs to the people who live and work in these towns today. That meant embedding collaboration at every stage, working with residents, schools and local creatives to shape a narrative that felt true to the region. This way of working is fundamental to Walk the Plank’s approach: championing the role of arts, culture and heritage in placemaking by centring local voices, uncovering hidden histories and balancing tradition with new creative expression. 

The scale of the community involvement in Ghost Train speaks for itself: a creative team, crew and cast of more than 70, alongside 30 community volunteers, 1,000 primary school pupils, and 100 students from the Northern School of Art. Their involvement shaped the show’s tone and emotional resonance. Each contribution - whether artistic, performative or practical - helped connect the historic railway story to the lived experience of people in the Northeast today. 

One moment in particular captured the power of this approach: a 10-year-old participant from Darlington shared that his great-great-grandfather had played cornet in the band aboard that very first passenger journey. It was wonderful, on the day of our event, to feel the presence of that first journey, and it reinforced our shared knowledge that Ghost Train was part of an ongoing story that bridges past, present and future. 

As we now move into evaluation, we are beginning to think about the legacy of the work. For the communities involved, legacy means ensuring these stories continue to be shared and celebrated. For us, it means exploring how we can maintain our relationships with the Northern School of Art students as they transition into professional creative careers; and investigating ways for the train and its carriages to be displayed publicly in 2026, allowing more people to engage with the installations and the remarkable history behind them. 

Ghost Train was undoubtedly a celebration of the region’s heritage but for Walk the Plank its long-term success depends on its ability to inspire. Our hope is that this project sparks curiosity, pride and imagination, encouraging future innovators to see their own potential, strengthening the cultural identity of Darlington and Stockton for years to come. Through work like Ghost Train, we aim to ensure that the stories of the past continue to fuel the creativity and innovation of the future.