PROPOSALS for a huge artwork to add to the attractions at the Shildon Railway Village went before a panel of judges yesterday.

A nationwide search for a £90,000 landmark piece of public art in the grounds of the £10m attraction was whittled down to a final four, diverse schemes.

The brief fo the artists was to entertain the 50,000 people a year expected to visit the museum, while underlining the historic significance of Shildon and its railway heritage.

Newcastle sculptor Andrew Burton, light artist Peter Freeman, of St Ives, in Cornwall, Lulu Quinn, a multi-media artist from Wiltshire, and Bruce Williams, an outdoor sculptor and photography specialist from Brighton, all presented their designs during a day-long meeting of the six-member selection board.

The public were asked for their views when the designs went on display last month.

A recommendation will go forward to the museum board over the next few days, and the winning design could be announced as early as next week.

Museum officials hope the artwork will be in place by next summer, ready for the attraction opening in September.

Shildon Railway Village will house 60 vehicles from the reserve collection of the National Railway Museum, in York. The finalists are as follows:

Lulu Quinn

Her concept is an eight-metre "sound wheel" with revolving movement created by a ring of lights. A recording of Shildon sounds and residents' voices would play as the wheel appeared to revolve.

Bruce Williams:

The artist has designed a laser-cut steel Iron Horse bolted on to a steel arch. Iron Horse was the old name for the railway, but the concept echoes the story of the Byerley Turk, an Arab stallion brought to Shildon in 1687 by Captain Robert Byerley, of Middridge, to establish a bloodline that can be traced to a third of thoroughbreds in the country today.

Peter Freeman

He presented a choice of light sculptures that could be controlled by mobile phone text messaging. Operating from an eight-metre, six-sided mirrored stainless steel column, the beacon would beam hundreds of colours across the museum site and displays could be changed by phone from anywhere in the world.

Andrew Burton

The artist designed a five-piece group sculpture depicting the coal that fed and was carried by the early railways, ballast shaped like an egg, a turntable, a rolled up length of rail and a huge bell that would amplify voices and sound.