Bingham artist Tim O’Brien chosen to be resident artist at The Greatest Gathering festival in Derby

An artist who depicted Britain’s railway throughout his 40-year career has been chosen as a resident artist for the UK’s biggest railway celebration.

Tim O’Brien, an award-winning artist from Bingham, will be the official artist in residence for The Greatest Gathering, hosted by Alstom.

The three-day railway festival in Derby will see Tim painting ‘en plein air’ across the historic event.

Taking place from August 1 to 3, the festival is part of Railway 200, a national programme marking 200 years since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, the moment credited as the birth of the modern railway.

Speaking ahead of the event, Tim said: “I feel very privileged and honoured to be invited by Alstom to be their official artist in residence and capture this bicentennial celebration in art.

“I have always been a fan of Terence Cuneo’s railway art and, as a child, I practised drawing using my Hornby OO gauge steam engines as subjects, so this opportunity is off the scale.”

Tim has spent his 40-year career depicting scenes from British heritage, with a focus on transport and military history.

After beginning his career as an advertising illustrator, he transitioned to fine art in the 1990s and has since worked with the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, producing work from first-hand experience onboard ships and aircraft.

He has exhibited at the Mall Galleries in London and held his first solo show at the Royal Air Force Club in 2015, a project that led to a major commission of 25 paintings for permanent display at the club.

Tim added: “One of the biggest challenges for plein-air artists is not to become overwhelmed by the vast array of topics in front of me at an event like this and attempt to depict too much on a single canvas.

“I will have to quickly focus on a view and simplify it, so it becomes a study of colour and atmosphere.”

The festival will be held at Alstom’s historic Litchurch Lane site — Britain’s oldest remaining train factory.

The Greatest Gathering will showcase over 50 trains from past, present and future, with the site opening to the public for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The tickets for the event have already sold out.