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A Birmingham sculpture allegedly showing crashed locomotives is based on a rail tragedy which killed 112 people, an expert claims.

And Howard Johnston, editor of Steam Railway magazine, has labelled the artwork by Roger Hiorns as “disgusting and shocking.”

The sculpture was shortlisted for a £2 million Big Art grant and, if it wins, it will be exhibited outside Birmingham’s revived Curzon Street station after the arrival of HS2.

Mr Johnston claims the design by Mr Hiorns is based on an October 8 1952 rail tragedy at Harrow and Wealdstone station, London, which claimed 112 people lives and left 340 injured. It was the worst ever UK rail crash.

The train involved was named the City of Glasgow. Its driver was blamed for the high-speed collision, which involved three trains in total.

Mr Johnston says he believes the controversial sculpture - whose texture has the appearance of human skin - was based on the City of Glasgow.

Birmingham-born Mr Hiorns has not said his artwork is based on a train crash, stating it is meant to symbolise “the shaping of our sexual identities”.

But writing in August’s edition of Steam Railway Mr Johnston said: “My view is one of disgust at the shortlisting of what looks like two crashed main line locomotives for a giant £2 million sculpture outside Birmingham Curzon. Street station.”

He said it was clear the sculptor was modelled on the locomotive used in the Harrow and Wealdstone disaster.

“What is alarming is that no-one in authority - or anywhere else - has noticed the shocking similarity until now,” he said.

“They need to take this ‘crashed engine’ entry off the shortlist, and have some respect for the families of those who lost their loved ones in the Harrow pile-up almost 64 years ago.

“Both the Arts Council and Birmingham City Council should know better.”

The sculptor is on a shortlist of five entries selected by Birmingham Big Art Foundation, supported by the city council. Rail operator London Midland is also set to sponsor the competition.

Gavin Wade, chair of the selection panel of the Birmingham Big Art Project, said the sculptor was ‘not intended to be a train crash’.

“It is more of a landscape which has been changed by technology,’’ he added.

“He will take train engines and 3D scan them, then twist and morph the image to come up with a surreal and quite beautiful landscape.

“He’s a very provocative artist and his proposal is already receiving a response from people who are intrigued by it. That’s what we want.”

The project is costing £2 million, with the money raised from individual and corporate donors and an £80,000 Arts Council grant.

Mr Hiorns describes his artwork, as yet untitled, as “a landscape of transformed engines both large and small”.

He added: “The image of the locomotive in bodily transition is proposed as a symbol of the shaping of our sexual and physical identities by technology.”

Mr Hiorns studied Fine Art at Bournville College before moving to London to take a degree at Goldsmiths College.

His other work includes Seizure in 2008, in which he used 75,000 litres of copper sulphate solution to convert the inside of an abandoned Peckham council flat into a glittering wonderland of blue crystals.

Models of the short-listed sculptures are on display at Millennium Point and, from September, the Library of Birmingham.

There will be ballot boxes for exhibition visitors to vote for their favourite pieces and leave comments. The public’s favourite will be taken into consideration when the steering panel make their final decision.

The winner will be announced in January, with a grand unveiling planned for April 2018.

The wrecked locomotives was called LMS ‘Duchess’ 4-6-2 No. 46235 City of Birmingham and is preserved in the city’s museum.