A team of young engineers at Bridgnorth-based Grainger & Worrall (www.gwcast.com)— a provider of high-quality castings — is taking the lead on a new project that is expected to boost tourism.

Work has already begun on the prototyping of a series of 20 replica locomotive statues in the shape of ‘Catch Me Who Can’, which was built in Bridgnorth in 1808 for British inventor Richard Trevithick and was the world’s first engine to pull fare-paying passengers.

The statues will be hand-painted by local artists and placed in strategic locations around the town, to create an interactive walking trail.

The project is putting Grainger and Worrall’s apprentices under real-time engineering pressures. Not only are they being asked to design and engineer the statues (based on a sketch), but they also need to manufacture four a week leading up to the 1 April deadline, when the statues will be placed around the town on plinths.

Ella Jones, a female apprentice at Grainger and Worrall, said: “Throughout the design stage, we have had a lot to consider.

“The number of replicas required in a short time-frame means that they must be practical to manufacture, which is why we are using a hybrid of traditional casting processes, together with more innovative 3-D sand printing technology.

“They must also be corrosion-resistant and have secure fixings, plus they must be novel and quirky by design. We also need to ensure that they replicate the original Catch Me Who Can in the best possible way.”

Matthew Snelson, director of systems at Grainger and Worrall — and also director of the neighbouring Marches Centre of Manufacturing and Technology, which is hosting the apprentices — said: “This project gives our apprentices experience of working in busy engineering conditions, using their skills in computer-aided design, simulation, prototyping, 3-D printing and sand casting.

“These are the skills that Grainger and Worrall’s 700-strong team practise every day in response to demand from leading OEMs for complex metal solutions.”