LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
Encyclopedia
60163 Tornado is a main-line steam locomotive
built in Darlington
, England
. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom
since Evening Star
, the last steam locomotive built by British Rail
ways, in 1960. Designed to meet modern safety and certification standards, Tornado runs on the UK rail network
and on mainline-connected heritage railway
s. The locomotive is named after the Panavia Tornado
military jet.
, a charitable trust founded in 1990 to build Tornado and possibly further locomotives. Tornado was conceived as an evolution of the LNER Peppercorn Class A1
class, incorporating improvements likely had steam continued, and changes for cost, safety, manufacturing and operational benefits, while replicating the original design's sound and appearance. Tornado, completely new-built, is considered the 50th Peppercorn A1, numbered next in the class after 60162, Saint Johnstoun, built in 1949.
The 49 original Peppercorn A1s were built in Doncaster
and Darlington for the London and North Eastern Railway
(LNER). Tornado was built in the trust's Darlington works. The original 49 locomotives were scrapped by 1966 after an average service of 15 years. None survived into preservation, and Tornado fills a gap in the classes of restored steam locomotives that used to operate on the East Coast Main Line
.
Tornado moved under her own power for the first time on 29 July 2008 at Darlington, and then spent two months at the preserved Great Central Railway
double-track tourist railway in Loughborough
, where she was tested up to 60 mph (26.8 m/s) and operated her first passenger train. Tornado then moved to the National Railway Museum
(NRM) in York
for three test runs on the main line up to 75 mph (33.5 m/s). After repainting into LNER Apple Green, Tornado was approved for main-line passenger operation. On 31 January 2009 she hauled her first passenger trip on the main line, The Peppercorn Pioneer, from York to Newcastle and back. By hauling various A1 Trust railtour
s, charters and other activities, Tornado will begin to recoup the estimated £800,000 debt from the project, which cost around £3 million.
With a shorter rake of eleven coaches compared with the original Peppercorn A1's usage, Tornado is expected to achieve contemporary mainline speeds. Theoretically capable of 100 miles per hour (44.7 m/s), Tornado may in the future gain permission to run at 90 miles per hour (40.2 m/s), making her the fastest steam locomotive on the British main line. Once on the main line, Tornado is not expected to leave it again until its ten-year fire-tube boiler
re-certification in late 2018.
On 21 June 2009, Tornado featured in the Top Gear Race to the North
, coming second to a car in a three-way race from London
to Edinburgh
, against a 1949 Jaguar XK120
sports car and a 1949 Vincent Black Shadow
motorbike.
The original Peppercorn A1 series was ordered by the LNER, but the 49 locomotives were built at Doncaster and Darlington for British Railways (BR) in 1948–49, after the nationalisation of the railways in the United Kingdom. Following the modernisation and dieselisation plans of the 1950s, the A1 Peppercorn class was eventually scrapped at a comparatively early age of just 14 years.
Other famous East Coast Mainline steam locomotive
s have been preserved, for example several Gresley
LNER Class A4
and one LNER Class A3, 4472 Flying Scotsman
, but all 49 LNER Peppercorn Class A1 locomotives were scrapped. The last was 60145 St Mungo, which survived until September 1966.
The Peppercorn A1s were designed to cope with the heaviest regular post-war East Coast
trains. These were frequently 15 coaches or 550 tons. The locomotives were capable of 60-70 mph (95-110 km/h) on level track. Tornado will be able to haul 10-11 coach trains at higher speeds, to fit modern faster main lines.
The A1 Trust intended Tornado to be built from scratch, designed and built as the next locomotive in the A1 Peppercorn class, not as a replica or restoration project, but an evolution of the class incorporating design improvements that would have occurred had steam motive power continued on the mainline railway.
The name Tornado was chosen in honour of the Royal Air Force
Tornado
air crews flying at the time in the Gulf War
. The honour of choosing the name was given to a £50,000 sponsor of the project. In 1995, officers of the Royal Air Force presented the Tornado nameplates to the trust at Tyseley Locomotive Works at the frame laying ceremony in January.
Tornado is numbered 60163, as the 50th Peppercorn A1. Tornados smokebox
door also carries the identification plate "51 A", the code for Darlington shed. The cab side carries the builder's plate "No. 2195 Darlington 2008". The front buffer beam carries the designation "A1", applied in the paint detailing phase for launch in Apple Green.
On 7 August 2008, Tornado was entered onto the Total Operations Processing System (TOPS
). Although the painted number is 60163, on the British mainline Tornado is designated 98863 in TOPS, where 98 describes a steam engine, the 8 stems from the power classification of 8P, and 63 comes from her 60163 number.
Tornado was in grey undercoat until final testing was completed, as a precaution against the need to remove the boiler
cladding. The livery was described as "works grey” in a ”satin finish”. While in this undercoat, Tornado wore the web address of the A1 Trust on the side of the tender, and the mark RA9 (denoting route availability
) on the locomotive cab. On her third main line test run to Newcastle, the web address was replaced with the National Express
logo.
The first full livery is LNER-style express passenger apple green, with 'British Railways' on the tender, as worn by the original locomotives in 1948. The first 30 Peppercorn A1s delivered wore this colour This was applied by the NRM paint shop after completion of mainline trials at the NRM in York. Painting was behind closed doors, with the finished article unveiled (without nameplates) on 13 December 2008, in front of 500 supporters of the A1 Trust. The green livery was applied in the traditional way, brush painted by hand. Tornado was unveiled on the turntable with the NRM North Eastern Railway
(NER) dynamometer car
. Due to time constraints, detailing had been completed only on one side of the locomotive at the launch, and Tornado re-entered the paintshop after the launch before going back on display.
Prior to Tornado, LNER Thompson Class B1 1306 Mayflower
and LNER Class D49
46 Morayshire were the only two operational steam locomotives in Britain wearing LNER green. LNER Class V2 4771 Green Arrow
was withdrawn from mainline operations on 26 April 2008. LNER green was also the last livery worn by LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
prior to withdrawal in December 2005.
Over the life of her first ten-year boiler certificate, it is expected Tornado will also wear BR Blue, BR Brunswick Green (pre-1957) and Brunswick Green post-1957.
Although the name Tornado was chosen and nameplates manufactured long before the locomotive was completed, during commissioning and test running the nameplates were not attached. By railway convention, the locomotive is officially known by her number until the name plates are affixed.
Tornado was named by HRH The Prince of Wales
, accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall and Dorothy Mather (widow of designer Arthur Peppercorn
), at York railway station
on 19 February 2009. The ceremony is marked by a plaque located below the nameplate. Tornado then pulled the Royal Train
to Leeds.
On hearing of the project in October 1991, the Argentinian locomotive engineer Livio Dante Porta
contacted the trust, hailing the project as the start of a "renaissance of steam technology". In 1992, he submitted A proposal for the Tornado project. In it, he proposed to the trust several design improvements that could be made to Tornado that, while preserving the outer form, would make Tornado a second-generation steam locomotive
.
Since the trust was not creating a replica of a Peppercorn A1, but the next in class, the proposals were duly considered. However, the trust decided it could only adopt some of the proposals, and improved Tornado remains strictly a first-generation locomotive. The trust felt there were too many risks in adopting all of the untried proposals, and in Porta's own words, it would have taken 20,000 test miles to iron out his improvements, something the trust probably could not finance. The expense of testing the heavily modified preserved Duke of Gloucester was also cited as a factor.
Ironically, in 2003, it was decided to make Tornado oil-fired, for cost and operational reasons, following earlier dual-fuelled coal-and-oil-fired proposals in 1998, when boiler design commenced. This was later abandoned in favour of the original design of coal firing, due to the large increase in global fuel prices, and to save the certification costs of this design difference.
Rough engineering dimensions for Tornado were obtained from measuring Blue Peter at the National Railway Museum
(NRM). Due to there being no general arrangement drawing of a Peppercorn A1, one from an A2
was used.
Many of the drawings originally used at Doncaster Works for the A1 Peppercorn class had been preserved at the NRM, and a team of volunteers spent three days collating these in the autumn of 1991. The original drawings were India ink
drawings on linen; these had to be scanned into a Computer Aided Design (CAD) software program, as the microfilm NRM copies were not suitable for manufacturing purposes, and direct dyeline copies could not be made. About 95 percent of the original drawings were found, with 1,100 scanned by 1993, and a further 140 in 2001. A few poor-quality originals required re-drawing.
Updated specifications were required to be drawn up to account for out of date material specifications and drawing notes whose original meaning could not be determined. Other design details were also obtained through interviews with Arthur Peppercorn
's former assistant, J.F. Harrison.
The design was modified where necessary to better suit modern manufacturing techniques, and to fit in with the modern high speed railway, while retaining the greater part of the original design. As an evolution of the Peppercorn A1 class, Tornado would also incorporate improvements that would have been made to the class had steam continued, such as correction of
the rough riding faults of the original 49 Peppercorn A1s.
The whistle is not an A1, it is an A4 whistle, procured from the scrapped loco "Golden Eagle"
The following design changes were made for cost or operational reasons:
Additionally, to meet current safety and operation standards, Tornado includes:
With advances in manufacturing, as opposed to the original Peppercorn A1, which had two-piece frames riveted together, Tornado's 48 in 6 in (14.78 m) long steel plates were electronically cut from one piece of steel. These are probably the most accurate steam locomotive frames ever produced.
Despite their higher costs, roller bearings were used owing to the reliability they had demonstrated after a trial of some of the original Peppercorn A1s. This caused an unforeseen problem in 2003 since the modifications made to the tender in the original fitting of roller bearings as an experiment to some Peppercorn A1s had not been properly drawn for the Cartazzi axle of the trailing wheels.
The tender was redesigned internally, removing the water scoop, increasing the water capacity from 5,000 to 6,000 gallons, and reducing coal capacity from 9 to 7.5 tons.
A 1 inches (25.4 mm) reduction in height from the original 13 in 1 in (3.99 m) height was required by the Network Rail OLE regulations, and was achieved by a redesign of the dome and safety valve mountings on the boiler, and by reprofiling of the cab roof and chimney.
Testing was planned to occur with a lipped chimney, and on receipt of the first full livery, Tornado would be fitted with an authentic rimless chimney, described as the original non-capped version. The fluted chimney intended for Apple Green running was still not fitted at the time of the green livery launch on 13 December, due to it still being machined at the manufacturer. It was completed and fitted in time for the inaugural main line passenger run. The locomotive chimney would also be fitted with a spark arrestor. The locomotive number on the smokebox door may be moved higher up as was "once the norm" (requiring the moving of the lamp-bracket). Moving the number plate above the smokebox door hand-rail was confirmed as being intended at the time of Tornado's unveiling at the NRM. Tornado would also be fitted with a chime whistle
from an A4 class locomotive.
In 1991, a preference for a 'Doncaster pattern' riveted tender was expressed, as per the Doncaster-built Peppercorn A1s. The redundant tender of Flying Scotsman
was acquired, although later returned unused, allowing Tornado to remain a completely originally manufactured locomotive.
By 2002, it was agreed that a flush sided (all welded) boiler and tender was appropriate for a Darlington-built Peppercorn A1, making construction and maintenance easier. In 2003 the need for a second tender for Tornado was discounted. The tender features spoked wheels as per at least three historical LNER Peppercorn A1s.
began in late 1998. No standard gauge boiler had been built in Britain since the 1960s, at least not for such a large engine. It was required to be based on the original LNER Diagram 118 design but had to meet modern safety standards. Design changes included the cheaper modern-day fabrication method of a welded rather than a rivet
ed firebox and boiler tube, the use of steel rather than copper for the firebox, and the height reduction for OLE regulations.
While manufacturing facilities still existed in Britain to manufacture such a large component, because of the design differences from the originals the trust required a supplier with specific experience of designing, building and certification of steam engine boilers to modern safety regulations, as required by the European Union
's Pressure Equipment Directive
.
In early 2002, the Deutsche Bahn
Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works
in the former East Germany was identified as a supplier. They possessed the required knowledge as mainline steam operation had continued in East Germany until the mid-1980s, 70% of their work still involved steam, and they still possessed the powerful plate roller machines. The trust did not have funding to place the order until January 2005.
On 16 July 2006 the boiler arrived by sea and was unloaded at Darlington with a 200-ton crane, having taken just nine months to build. The fitting of the 21-ton firebox and boiler unit to the wheeled locomotive frame was said to have been a perfect fit
, requiring no grinding
at all, a tribute to the accuracy of the design and construction by the Meiningen works. The fitting was not without incident though, as the extra weight caused some compaction
of the track bed, and assistance was required to move the locomotive back into the works, being winched, towed by a forklift truck
and pushed with Land Rover
s.
A further modification to the boiler design has been the use of hollow stays. Stays support and separate the outer boiler and inner firebox. The hollow stays act as an indicator of any cracks in the otherwise inaccessible stays, such cracks being revealed by water leaks. Leaks have in fact been detected and have led to the locomotive being unavailable for service. In July 2010 while replacement stays were fitted, Mark Allatt, chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented "Although the problems with Tornado’s boiler are part of learning about the locomotive in today’s operational environment, they are a source of great disappointment to all of Tornado's supporters and customers and our customers' passengers. We are working as hard as we can to bring Tornado back to full health as soon as possible and back onto the main line where she belongs."
The assembly of Tornado has mostly taken place at the A1 Trust's Darlington Locomotive Works, bringing together components manufactured around the country, and some from overseas.
and construction of the cab
. The locomotive frames were assembled at Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham, being ceremonially laid there on 5 January 1995, and completed by October 1996.
In March 1997, Tornado, as a completed frame and inside cylinder, was displayed at the Great Hall at the NRM for several weeks, transported from Tyseley by an EWS freight wagon. She returned to Tyseley to await completion of the Darlington works. The elements of Tornado were brought together with the opening of Darlington Locomotive Works in 1997, and the opening ceremony saw the unveiled locomotive, now consisting of the frame with its three cylinders and cab attached. Spring 1998 saw the smokebox construction started and the tyres fitted, and by 1999 forging of the motion components started, the first delivery of components commencing in January 2000.
By September 1999, the last wheel had been pressed onto the wheelset, which was delivered to Darlington by July 2000. By January 2000, the front bogie
had been assembled. With the fitting of these parts, the mounting of the frame onto the wheelset, and fitting of the smokebox, by the end of 2000, the most visible missing parts of Tornado were the boiler and tender.
Post-2000, assembly and setting of the motion proceeded, and attention turned to the design of the boiler; a £250,000 appeal was launched. Tornado became a rolling chassis by October 2002, and achieved the first synchronous movement of the motion and all wheels in August 2004.
header, was started in 2007, and after defeating two foundries the complex shape was cast by a third supplier.
Owing to space constraints at Darlington works, the Tornado tender frames and body were built off-site, with the body being significantly built locally in Darlington. The tender wheelsets were assembled by an East Lancs Railway-based company. The tender frame and wheel set were united by December 2007, and the tank attached to it by February 2008.
A computer simulation
was used to assist in the setting up of the valves and motion. The boiler safety valves were tested on LNER Class A4
60009 Union of South Africa
at the Severn Valley Railway
before their delivery to Meiningen
for fitting to the boiler.
On 10 July 2006, the boiler was hydraulically tested at the manufacturer's at one-and-a-half times working pressure and was passed safe. On 11 January 2008 the boiler passed its first steam test, in tests carried out by an external boiler inspector. The boiler was noted by the inspector to be a very rapid boiler, boding well for use on the main line. As also noted by the inspector, being brand new Tornado's boiler exhibited no leaks of any kind during the test, in contrast to heritage restorations.
For the test, the fire was lit and the boiler was allowed to warm up over 48 hours before being then taken up to 260psi, just over the maximum working pressure. During the test, the boiler safety valve
s were set to the correct pressure.
At that time the tender body was not yet finished, so the test was conducted using a water bowser
. The boiler was creating steam so efficiently that the water supply was being used faster than it could be replenished by the mains water supply to the works. In order to complete the test and not prematurely damp down the fire, an emergency call for water was made to the local fire brigade
, who responded with a fire engine to supply more water. This was sensationally but inaccurately reported in one local newspaper as "fire brigade called to prevent boiler explosion
".
The 1 August launch was timely, as it coincided with the 40th anniversary of the end of steam on British Railways, on 4 August 1968, and with the 60th anniversary of the entry into traffic of No. 60114 W.P. Allen, the first Peppercorn A1 class locomotive.
, where she would perform mileage accumulation and testing, before hauling her first passenger trains.
After being transported to the GCR on 19 August 2008, Tornado was unloaded at Quorn and Woodhouse
station the following day, and towed to the GCR Loughborough shed.
Tornado performed her first non-stop mile run at the GCR on 21 August, and hauled her first empty trains on 22 August. For the GCR Thomas the Tank Engine
themed bank holiday weekend (23–25 August), Tornado wore a small Thomas face for light runs during the days.
It was anticipated that Tornado would need around 2000 miles (3,218.7 km) of running to bed in, before moving to the main line proper. Following HM Railway Inspectorate
(HMRI) approval, 60 mi/h running was achieved by the end of September 2008. Prior to mid-October 2008, Tornado had achieved 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) of fault-free running. By the end of October, Tornado had run 1500 miles (2,414 km).
While at the GCR, Tornado hauled empty passenger trains at speeds up to 60 mi/h, and load test trains of up to around 500 tons. One load test in September involved the hauling of a rake of 11 empty coaches and a dead Class 45 diesel locomotive
. Also in one load test, over 2,000edhp (Effective Drawbar Horsepower) was recorded. On 10 September Tornado was officially timed for the first time, hauling 518 tons up the 1 in 176 gradient south from Rothley railway station
.
According to the preserved railway's president, Tornado achieved a "smooth debut" while at the GCR. Tornado was also described to have performed in the testing and passenger runs "effortlessly" and "faultlessly".
On 21 October 2008, Tornado arrived at the National Rail Museum in York, and was first put on display in the Great Hall for a few days, where she was given pride of place on the NRM turntable for the annual railway industry dinner on 23 October 2008. Tornado then remained operationally based at the NRM behind the scenes for final preparations and testing on the main line, reaching speeds of up to 75 mi/h, before an expected main line debut in February 2009. The acceptance testing based out of York would be conducted by EWS
.
Three test runs on the main line were planned, for the 4, 6 and 18 November 2008, involving out and back journeys departing from York in the evenings. The first would be to Scarborough. Two further runs would occur to Barrow Hill
, Chesterfield
, and to Newcastle
.
The Scarborough run would be a round trip of 84 miles (135.2 km) with a support coach only. The Barrow Hill run would see Tornado haul a 500-ton load, consisting of a rake of 12 coaches and a Class 67 diesel locomotive
, at up to 60 mi/h, on a 142 miles (228.5 km) round trip. The Newcastle run would be a 176 miles (283.2 km) round trip at up to 75 mi/h, with a rake of empty coaches.
The first test run ran successfully on 4 November 2008 "with no discernible problems". The second test also ran on 6 November. The morning of 19 November 2008 marked the successful completion of the third and final test run.
Following the completion of the mainline test tuns, Tornado entered the NRM paintshop to receive her first proper livery, and was unveiled in a launch ceremony on 13 December 2008. After some brief further work behind the scenes, Tornado returned to the NRM turntable on 22 December and was displayed there over the Christmas period until 11 January 2009, whereupon she was moved back into the workshops to undergo preparation for her main line passenger debut.
A further test run was announced, the first in her green livery, with a run for Tornado and support coach from York to Leeds and back, to be run on 28 January 2009, in preparation for the inaugural main line passenger trains. This was duly completed, allowing passenger trains to begin.
While Tornado was based at the NRM, on 21 January 2009 a £250,000 funding appeal, Save Our Scotsman, was launched for completion of the restoration of LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
, a long-term resident of the NRM workshops since being taken out of service for overhaul in December 2005. Inevitable comparisons were drawn with the Tornado project, with it being highlighted that as of the end of 2008 the cost to the NRM since 2004 of restoring Flying Scotsman (£2.2m purchasing and £742,000 overhauling) was almost the exact cost of building Tornado from scratch. In particular, as of January 2008, the believed cost of £800,000 for Tornado's brand new boiler from Germany was less than the latest NRM budget of £850,000 for restoring Flying Scotsman's A3 boiler, which had risen from earlier estimates due to the boiler's poor condition and the rising cost of copper.
certificate will be obtained on completion of a manufacturing and maintenance procedures review.
Tornado is required to pass the 2006 European Interoperability of the conventional rail system Directive, achieved through compliance with the National Notified Technical Rules (formerly the Railway Group Standards). Certification of Tornado is being managed by the trust's UK Notified Body, DeltaRail Group Ltd
. Tornado is exempted from portions of the regulations, as are many main line steam locomotives, such as from the need for a yellow warning panel, or crumple zone
s.
In liaison with Network Rail, a route acceptance strategy will be agreed. Approval for Tornado to enter service will be granted by the Office of Rail Regulation
(ORR). This will be in two stages, approval under the 'Railway and Other Transport Systems regulations, for use on the Great Central Railway
(GCR) and other preserved lines, and then as an 'interoperable' locomotive for use on the British main line network.
Testing of the On-Train Monitoring Recorder (OTMR), Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS), Automatic Warning System
(AWS), and air brakes was done at the GCR. These tests are standard for all steam locomotives requiring certification for the main line. Regulator position and locomotive speed are both recorded by the on-train recording equipment, stored under the driver's seat.
As well as standard tests, as technically a new design of locomotive Tornado was required to undergo specific extra tests to examine ride quality and track force, to assess the effect the locomotive would have on the main line track. The details of these tests are laid down by the Network Rail Safety Review Panel. It was agreed in advance between the trust and the authorities that these could be done in part at the GCR. Accordingly, on 25 September 2008, the tests were performed by running Tornado through the Kinchley Curve at speeds of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mi/h, with a trailing saloon car fitted with monitoring equipment, including a Global Positioning System
(GPS) unit to measure the precise speed and distance travelled every metre. Measurements were taken on board by 21 sensors attached to the locomotive, measuring pitch and roll, and acceleration and deceleration. Measurements were also taken through the use of track-side sensors measuring side forces exerted on the track, augmented with freeze-frame footage of the position of the wheels as they passed. The results were compared with control readings
taken at the same site using Oliver Cromwell
, two weeks later. The preliminary results were described as producing "no untoward signals".
Tornado was granted an Engineering Acceptance (EA) certificate on 31 October by DeltaRail and a Route Acceptance certificate on 3 November by Network Rail, allowing testing on the main line to begin. Further tests were performed at Network Rail facilities located between York and Darlington, at a testing facility known as a wheelchex. This consists of track fitted with sensors to measure vertical force effects such as hammer blow
. Completion of a test run between York and Leeds on 28 January 2009 signalled the gaining of certification to haul passengers on the Network Rail
main line.
In January 2009, the railway press reported that a discrepancy had emerged in the 18 November 2008 75 mi/h test, whereby the OTMR recording equipment on the Class 67 being towed had recorded a top speed of around 100 mi/h, while the A1 data recorder measured speeds "nearer the 75 mi/h" mark. It was stated that while a 10% overspeed
is allowed (and may be required) in such new equipment test runs (A4 Class 4464 Bittern
reached 83 mi/h in 2007,) Tornado had not been planned or authorised to do so on this test. It was suggested that the discrepancy might been down to the equipment on the Class 67 having had its gearing altered but not having been recalibrated.
After leaving the GCR, it is intended that Tornado will, as much as possible, not be transported by road; therefore she will only see service on the main line, or on heritage lines with a main line connection. Exceptions have been made to this: the locomotive revisited the GCR in spring 2010, and is set to visit the Bluebell Railway
in August 2010. It will be put onto a low loader again to be transported back to Darlington for overhaul, after five years' service.
It was expected that the first phase of main line operational running would be limited to trips of 200 to 250 miles (402.3 km). The expanded water capacity of the tender allows legs of over 100 miles (160.9 km) between water stops, 25 miles (40.2 km) further than the original Peppercorn A1s.
To assist in passenger operation, in 2008 the Trust purchased their own support coach, a British Railways Mark 1
Brake Composite Corridor type, No. 21249, which as of spring 2010 is still not in use. Tornado has a route availability
of 9.
The inaugural train was formed of a rake of eight carriages, formed (from the front) of three 'blood and custard' liveried coaches, four green liveried coaches, and a special rear coach. This rear coach was a restored LNER beavertail observation car
. This train departed at 10.15 am from Quorn and Woodhouse
station, and ran non-stop to Leicester North station, back to Loughborough, and then to Quorn. Five trains in all ran on this first day, with all special services being restricted to those involved with the Trust, with Tornado running around in a non-platform
passing loop
at Loughborough Central
. On this day, 1,000–2,000 covenantors, donors and guests travelled on the service.
The first public trains for fare-paying passengers began the next day on 22 September 2008, limited to the normal line speed. On this day, over 1,000 passengers were carried on the three sold-out trips.
While at the GCR for the first time, Tornado also took part in the 125th anniversary of the Boys' Brigade
wearing a special headboard on 4 October 2008, and hauled the preserved GCR Travelling Post Office
rake.
The last passenger operation at the GCR was on Sunday 12 October 2008, the culmination of a three-day gala weekend event. Tornado operated over the weekend alongside Leander
, Oliver Cromwell
and Lord Nelson, which was to have an "end of steam" theme. The first announced heritage event for Tornado was an appearance at the 2009 Spring gala at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
, 1–10 May.
Following a servicing visit on her 6 November 2008 test run, Tornado returned to the Barrow Hill roundhouse
on the weekend of 4–5 April, arriving on 30 March. As well as Tornado, the LNER themed event featured, among others, the LNER locomotives A2 Class 60532 Blue Peter, and the A4 Classes 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley
and 4488 Union of South Africa
. At this event, Tornado was posed alongside narrow gauge (15 inches (38.1 cm)) locomotive No.7 Typhoon of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
, recreating an LNER publicity shot held previously with Typhoon and LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
. 60532 Blue Peter, which is a semi-permanent resident of Barrow Hill, was repainted in apple green for display alongside Tornado. The 6 November meeting of Tornado and 60532 Blue Peter in the Barrow Hill roundhouse re-created a scene not witnessed for nearly 50 years. From 16 August 2009 to 2 September 2009, Tornado visited Didcot Railway Centre
. From 24 October 2009 to 7 November, Tornado visited the Severn Valley Railway
for October half term, where it ran with the SVR's LNER set of teak carriages. http://www.svr.co.uk/
In August 2010, Tornado will be visiting the Bluebell Railway
for its 50th anniversary of operation celebrations. It may arrive via low loader if its East Grinstead extension is not completed despite the fact that the A1 Trust said all movements would be by rail.http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/events/50th.html
http://www.a1steam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=330:tornado-to-attend-the-bluebell-railways-50th-anniversary-celebrations&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=123
Tornado completed her first passenger trip on the main line on 31 January 2009, a return trip from York to Newcastle, via Darlington and Durham. As with the trains at the GCR, the first two official passenger trips on the mainline were to be for covenanters only. These trips were provisionally announced as two specials from York to Newcastle and back, making one trip on 31 January 2009, with the same trip repeated the next day. This would see Tornado repeating the route of the last tour hauled by the last surviving original Peppercorn A1, 60145 St Mungo, 42 years previously. These trains were announced as The Peppercorn Pioneers on 18 January 2009. The first train would be carrying 500 passengers in a rake of 13 carriages. On 23 January, on advice from the British Transport Police
and Network Rail, due to concerns over crowd safety at Newcastle station due to the 1 February Tyne-Wear football derby match
between Newcastle United F.C. and Sunderland A.F.C., the second Peppercorn Pioneer was re-arranged into a return trip from Doncaster to Durham
, with Tornado hauling the train for the outbound leg and part of the return leg.
Tornado's first publicly available train, and also her first trip to London, was hauling an A1 Trust Talisman railtour on 7 February 2009 from Darlington to King's Cross. Tornado's first trains out of London were two Valentine's Day
Cathedrals Express excursions from London Victoria on 14 February 2009, a lunch tour and a dinner tour. The lunch tour was later modified to leave from London Waterloo station, making Waterloo as Tornado's first London departure point. Tornado's first Pullman class
train was expected to be a Yorkshire Pullman on 26 February 2009, hauling the British Venice-Simplon Orient Express
(VSOE) coaching stock from King's Cross to York. This was later postponed to 18 April 2009. The new date also saw Tornado scheduled to run a return journey back to King's Cross on the same day. This was still expected to be Tornado's first passenger departure from King's Cross. Tornado's first trip to Scotland
was The Auld Reekie
Express on 28 February 2009, with steam traction one way from York to Edinburgh
. With Following Saturday 7 March making her first journey from Scotland. As of January 2009, the Trust planned to run their own excursions with Tornado over the Settle-Carlisle Line on 3 October 2009 and 4 October 2009.
On 21 December 2009, Tornado rescued about 100 people who were stranded by bad weather at London Victoria station. On that day, a number of electric trains, which picked up their power from the third rail
, were unable to run because of snow and ice on the line. Tornado was to haul a 'Cathedrals Express' lunchtime special service from Victoria; a number of booked passengers had been unable to get there due to the conditions, and so there were spare seats; the train's operators decided to offer these seats to commuters whose trains had been cancelled. Tornado also had an evening 'Cathedrals Express' dining train, and the same offer was again made.
In 2004, approval was sought for 90 mi/h running,, however this has not yet been achieved. If approved at some time in the future it would make Tornado the fastest present-day steam locomotive in Britain. This approach is required to run at speeds comparable to contemporary rail traffic, involving full certification of Tornado. While older preserved steam locomotives are subject to speed and safety restrictions, approval for 90 mi/h running is possible for Tornado due to her new condition. Like her predecessors, the original Peppercorn A1 class, Tornado could reach 100 mi/h.
It was expected that Tornado would achieve certification to be allowed to run at 90 mi/h on the main line, although it was believed this might not occur until 2009. As of January 2009, having gained approval for running at 75 mi/h, "active discussion" was said to be taking place about testing Tornado to "a higher speed".
If 90 mi/h running is achieved, Tornado would also become the second fastest in the world. Regular 90 mi/h steam operation was last seen in Britain in 1967 with the Merchant Navy class
Pacific locomotives operating on the Waterloo to Bournemouth route
. The fastest operational steam locomotive in the world is Deutsche Reichsbahn
18.201
, allowed to run in Germany up to 180 km/h (111.8 mph).
While Tornado will be limited to 75 mi/h on the UK main line, there is a possibility that she could reach higher speeds if transported to Germany. If she was towed through the Channel Tunnel
, according to the Trust, Deutsche Bahn
had informed the Trust that Tornado would be allowed to run "as fast as [they] like".
Tornado was built by the Locomotive Construction Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
. At 1990s prices, the projected cost of the project was £1.6 million.
The trust has used Deeds of Covenant since the start of the project in 1990, marketed under the slogan 'build a main line loco for the price of a pint of beer a week!'. Covenantors can wear a special A1 Trust tie and pay a fixed amount monthly by standing order
, and for this they receive honour roll recognition, event and viewing priority, regular trust publications and the right to attend the annual conventions.
In September 1996, the concept of dedicated covenants was launched. Now renamed dedicated donations, these were one-off payments of £25 to £25,000 to sponsor a particular part. As with regular covenantors, dedicated donors receive recognition, and an engineering drawing of the component they sponsored.
In October 1999 a £250,000 appeal was launched to fund the boiler, whose absence was now noticeable with Tornado now comprising a wheeled frame with completed cab and smokebox. As Tornado began to look like a locomotive with the mating of the frame with the wheelset in the Autumn of 2000, fundraising progress increased, breaking previous records by recruiting 100 new covenantors in two months. By 2005, the trust had raised over £1.5m.
Completion of the boiler was achieved through a half million pound bond issue. Following securing the boiler funding, the last major part, the tender, was achieved with a £200,000 single sponsor donation.
As of May 2008, £2.5m had been raised and spent, and the gap to the required £3m had been raised to complete Tornado However, due to the Chinese economic boom causing raw material cost increases, and increased certification costs, a further £50,000 appeal had to be launched if main line running was to be achieved by September.
As of the end of September 2008, the Trust still needed to raise £66,000 to pay for tests and trials to allow main line operation. While at the GCR, the project costs were running at the rate of £10,000 a month, rising to "six-figure bills" for certification in the months up to January 2009.
Launched in 2004, as of January 2009 £100,000 of the Trust's half million pound bond issue offering 4% returns remained unsubscribed.
In 1994 the A1 trust gained its first major sponsor, a major steel company. In 1997, Great North Eastern Railway
(GNER), the then operator on the East Coast Main Line
, became a sponsor, and decorated Darlington station
for the event, as well as offering free travel for trust workers.
The trust gained Rolls-Royce
as a sponsor in Spring 1998. The trust's principal sponsor is a metal casting company, which initially cast the driving wheels on "very advantageous terms", and later assisted with all the wheels and almost all other steel castings. As with GNER, Tornado's links to the East Coast Main Line brought with it support from the next incumbent operator, National Express
, with sponsorship of the third main line test run to Newcastle. Significant savings were made through industrial sponsorship; by 1998 this was keeping costs at 40% of normal. Some components, such as the smokebox door, were even obtained free of charge.
The Trust also received proceeds from the sale of limited edition models
of Tornado in works grey livery. The model was a customised product from The Model Centre (TMC), based on the Bachmann
OO scale
models of the Peppercorn A1 class.
Another grey works Tornado was to be made by TMC but with National Express on her tender from her 18 November mainline test run.
Bachmann released another Tornado model in her BR Apple Green livery just before Christmas 2009. Unlike the TMC models, which featured standard Bachmann A1s repainted in Tornados then grey livery, and unlike the original Bachmann limited edition model of Tornado which had the locomotive in BR Brunswick Green livery with the late BR crest, the apple-green 2009 release was of a new model, with most (though not all) of the detail differences applied. This is particularly evident on the tender, which features the enlarged water capacity and reduced coal storage of Tornado as compared to the 49 original A1s. The model proved extremely popular, to the extent that 10 weeks after going on sale Bachmann stocks were exhausted and more models had to be ordered.
On 25 December 2010 Hornby announced their 2011 range of models, which includes three versions of Tornado: a budget 'Railroad' version in BR Apple Green with simplified printing and lining details; a more detailed BR Apple Green version for the main range; and a version in BR Brunswick Green (with early crest) available as part of a train pack with three maroon coaches.
To recoup the cost of the project and service the debt, once operational Tornado would take over haulage duties on the Trust’s own Talisman railtours, and be offered for hire to heritage railways and other railtour and charter train operators. Whilst at heritage railways, the Trust would also offer driver courses at the controls of Tornado.
A new book on the story of Tornado called Tornado 21st Century Steam, written by The Guardian's
Jonathan Glacey, was released on 15 October 2010.
, Absolutely Chuffed: The Men Who Built a Steam Engine. It was first broadcast on BBC Four
on 16 October 2008, as part of their Golden Age of Steam season. The film was released on region 2 DVD on 28 December 2009 with unseen material and DVD extras.
Tornado and the Tornado project was also partly featured in the BBC Four documentary episode The Last Days of Steam (series 8 of the Time Shift documentaries), and also on How Do They Do It?
(channel Five version, season 3 episode 3). The project also featured on BBC 2's magazine programme Working Lunch
broadcast on 3 December 2007.
On 25 April 2009, Tornado hauled a 10-coach Cathedrals Express charter from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley
. This private train was filmed by the BBC for a Top Gear Race
, in which Jeremy Clarkson
on the train raced James May
in a Jaguar XK120
and Richard Hammond
on a Vincent Black Shadow
motorbike. Tornado was booked to complete the 390.2 miles (628 km) journey in 8 hours 2 minutes, without any passenger stops in stations, but with four water stops en route at Grantham
, York
, Tyne Yard
and Berwick
, totalling 95 minutes booked stoppage time. May and Hammond were restricted to using A-roads
, The Tornado came second beating the bike. The train was formed from the maroon support coach and a uniform rake of nine Royal Scot blood and custard coaches. The race featured in the first episode of the show's 13th series
, airing on 21 June 2009.
produce a model in OO gauge
. Other suppliers have produced detailed drawings.
Hornby Railways
have announced that they will be producing a OO gauge
Tornado in 2 different liveries. There will be one highly detailed version in the main range and one in the railroad range appealing to the younger modeller. There will also be a Tornado in BR Brunswick green with the early BR Totem as part of a set.
General information
Images Tornado in LNER Apple Green Modified image showing Tornado in BR Apple Green (Steam Railway Magazine)
Pictures at Newcastle, 18 November 2008 (BBC Tyne)
Tornado and support coach leaving York on her first mainline test to Scarborough BBC News
Photo-Library of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, with pictures of 'historic A1s' and 'Building Tornado
Photo-Library of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, with pictures of other types of locomotive, and other railway scenes
A Flickr group for Tornado photos
Tornado being loaded at Darlington works for transport to the GCR BBC Tees
Pictures at Darlington, 1 August 2008 (The Times)
Audio
Videos
Other
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
built in Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
since Evening Star
BR standard class 9F 92220 Evening Star
British Railways Standard Class 9F number 92220 Evening Star, is a preserved British steam locomotive completed in 1960. It was the last steam locomotive to be built by British Railways. It holds the distinction of being the only British main line steam locomotive ear-marked for preservation from...
, the last steam locomotive built by British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways, in 1960. Designed to meet modern safety and certification standards, Tornado runs on the UK rail network
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
and on mainline-connected heritage railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
s. The locomotive is named after the Panavia Tornado
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
military jet.
Overview
The locomotive was built by the A1 Steam Locomotive TrustA1 Steam Locomotive Trust
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a Darlington, England based charitable trust formed in 1990 for the primary purpose of completing the next stage of the locomotive heritage movement, the building a new steam locomotive. This project became the construction of 60163 Tornado, carried out by...
, a charitable trust founded in 1990 to build Tornado and possibly further locomotives. Tornado was conceived as an evolution of the LNER Peppercorn Class A1
LNER Peppercorn Class A1
The London and North Eastern Railway Peppercorn Class A1 is a type of express passenger steam locomotive. Forty-nine original Peppercorn Class A1s were built to the design of Arthur Peppercorn during the early British Railways era, but all were scrapped with the discontinuation of steam,...
class, incorporating improvements likely had steam continued, and changes for cost, safety, manufacturing and operational benefits, while replicating the original design's sound and appearance. Tornado, completely new-built, is considered the 50th Peppercorn A1, numbered next in the class after 60162, Saint Johnstoun, built in 1949.
The 49 original Peppercorn A1s were built in Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
and Darlington for the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
(LNER). Tornado was built in the trust's Darlington works. The original 49 locomotives were scrapped by 1966 after an average service of 15 years. None survived into preservation, and Tornado fills a gap in the classes of restored steam locomotives that used to operate on the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
.
Tornado moved under her own power for the first time on 29 July 2008 at Darlington, and then spent two months at the preserved Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway (preserved)
The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...
double-track tourist railway in Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
, where she was tested up to 60 mph (26.8 m/s) and operated her first passenger train. Tornado then moved to the National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
(NRM) in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
for three test runs on the main line up to 75 mph (33.5 m/s). After repainting into LNER Apple Green, Tornado was approved for main-line passenger operation. On 31 January 2009 she hauled her first passenger trip on the main line, The Peppercorn Pioneer, from York to Newcastle and back. By hauling various A1 Trust railtour
Railtour
A railtour is a special train which is run in order to allow people to experience rail travel which is not available using timetabled passenger services...
s, charters and other activities, Tornado will begin to recoup the estimated £800,000 debt from the project, which cost around £3 million.
With a shorter rake of eleven coaches compared with the original Peppercorn A1's usage, Tornado is expected to achieve contemporary mainline speeds. Theoretically capable of 100 miles per hour (44.7 m/s), Tornado may in the future gain permission to run at 90 miles per hour (40.2 m/s), making her the fastest steam locomotive on the British main line. Once on the main line, Tornado is not expected to leave it again until its ten-year fire-tube boiler
Fire-tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases from a fire pass through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water...
re-certification in late 2018.
On 21 June 2009, Tornado featured in the Top Gear Race to the North
Top Gear Race to the North
The Top Gear Race to the North was a three way race between a Jaguar XK120 car, a Vincent Black Shadow motorbike, and railway locomotive 60163 Tornado – a brand new mainline steam engine completed in Britain in 2008. The race saw the car, bike and locomotive, race from London, England, to...
, coming second to a car in a three-way race from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, against a 1949 Jaguar XK120
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.-History:...
sports car and a 1949 Vincent Black Shadow
Vincent Black Shadow
The Vincent Black Shadow was a hand-built motorcycle produced by Vincent HRD from 1948. The series "C" which was introduced in 1949 had a 50 degree OHV V-twin engine running a 7.3:1 compression ratio.-Model history:...
motorbike.
Background
Other famous East Coast Mainline steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s have been preserved, for example several Gresley
Nigel Gresley
Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway . He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the LNER Class A1 and LNER Class A4...
LNER Class A4
LNER Class A4
The Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive, designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognizable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard, still claims the...
and one LNER Class A3, 4472 Flying Scotsman
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...
, but all 49 LNER Peppercorn Class A1 locomotives were scrapped. The last was 60145 St Mungo, which survived until September 1966.
The Peppercorn A1s were designed to cope with the heaviest regular post-war East Coast
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
trains. These were frequently 15 coaches or 550 tons. The locomotives were capable of 60-70 mph (95-110 km/h) on level track. Tornado will be able to haul 10-11 coach trains at higher speeds, to fit modern faster main lines.
The A1 Trust intended Tornado to be built from scratch, designed and built as the next locomotive in the A1 Peppercorn class, not as a replica or restoration project, but an evolution of the class incorporating design improvements that would have occurred had steam motive power continued on the mainline railway.
Name, number and liveries
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Tornado
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
air crews flying at the time in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. The honour of choosing the name was given to a £50,000 sponsor of the project. In 1995, officers of the Royal Air Force presented the Tornado nameplates to the trust at Tyseley Locomotive Works at the frame laying ceremony in January.
Tornado is numbered 60163, as the 50th Peppercorn A1. Tornados smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
door also carries the identification plate "51 A", the code for Darlington shed. The cab side carries the builder's plate "No. 2195 Darlington 2008". The front buffer beam carries the designation "A1", applied in the paint detailing phase for launch in Apple Green.
On 7 August 2008, Tornado was entered onto the Total Operations Processing System (TOPS
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...
). Although the painted number is 60163, on the British mainline Tornado is designated 98863 in TOPS, where 98 describes a steam engine, the 8 stems from the power classification of 8P, and 63 comes from her 60163 number.
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
cladding. The livery was described as "works grey” in a ”satin finish”. While in this undercoat, Tornado wore the web address of the A1 Trust on the side of the tender, and the mark RA9 (denoting route availability
Route availability
Route Availability is the system by which the permanent way and supporting works of the National Rail network of Great Britain are graded. All routes are allocated an RA number between 1 and 10....
) on the locomotive cab. On her third main line test run to Newcastle, the web address was replaced with the National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
logo.
The first full livery is LNER-style express passenger apple green, with 'British Railways' on the tender, as worn by the original locomotives in 1948. The first 30 Peppercorn A1s delivered wore this colour This was applied by the NRM paint shop after completion of mainline trials at the NRM in York. Painting was behind closed doors, with the finished article unveiled (without nameplates) on 13 December 2008, in front of 500 supporters of the A1 Trust. The green livery was applied in the traditional way, brush painted by hand. Tornado was unveiled on the turntable with the NRM North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
(NER) dynamometer car
Dynamometer car
A dynamometer car is a railroad maintenance of way car used for measuring various aspects of a locomotive's performance. Measurements include tractive effort , power, top speed, etc.-History:...
. Due to time constraints, detailing had been completed only on one side of the locomotive at the launch, and Tornado re-entered the paintshop after the launch before going back on display.
Prior to Tornado, LNER Thompson Class B1 1306 Mayflower
LNER Thompson Class B1 61306
London and North Eastern Railway Thompson Class B1 No. 61306 is a preserved British steam locomotive. In preservation, it carries the number 1306 and the name Mayflower, complete with LNER Apple Green Livery, though this guise is entirely fictional.- Service :61306 was built in 1948 by the North...
and LNER Class D49
LNER Class D49
The London and North Eastern Railway D49 Class is a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were named after fox hunts and shires.One, 246/62712 Morayshire has been preserved on the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway....
46 Morayshire were the only two operational steam locomotives in Britain wearing LNER green. LNER Class V2 4771 Green Arrow
LNER Class V2 4771 Green Arrow
The LNER Class V2 2-6-2 steam locomotive, number 4771 Green Arrow was built in June 1936 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. The first-built and only surviving member of its class, it was designed for hauling express freight and passenger...
was withdrawn from mainline operations on 26 April 2008. LNER green was also the last livery worn by LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...
prior to withdrawal in December 2005.
Over the life of her first ten-year boiler certificate, it is expected Tornado will also wear BR Blue, BR Brunswick Green (pre-1957) and Brunswick Green post-1957.
Although the name Tornado was chosen and nameplates manufactured long before the locomotive was completed, during commissioning and test running the nameplates were not attached. By railway convention, the locomotive is officially known by her number until the name plates are affixed.
Tornado was named by HRH The Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
, accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall and Dorothy Mather (widow of designer Arthur Peppercorn
Arthur Peppercorn
Arthur Henry Peppercorn, OBE was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway.- Career :...
), at York railway station
York railway station
York railway station is a main-line railway station in the city of York, England. It lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London's King's Cross station towards Edinburgh's Waverley Station...
on 19 February 2009. The ceremony is marked by a plaque located below the nameplate. Tornado then pulled the Royal Train
British Royal Train
The Royal Train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the British Monarch, other members of the Royal Family, and their staff. The train enables members of the Royal Family to carry out busy schedules over an extended period, in a secure environment which minimises disruption and...
to Leeds.
Project milestones
- 1990 – A1 Steam Locomotive TrustA1 Steam Locomotive TrustThe A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a Darlington, England based charitable trust formed in 1990 for the primary purpose of completing the next stage of the locomotive heritage movement, the building a new steam locomotive. This project became the construction of 60163 Tornado, carried out by...
formally launched, 11 November - 1994 – First and last components ceremonially presented (a bogie swivel pin and a regulator nut)
- 1994 – Construction starts (frame plates rolled at Scunthorpe), 22 April
- 1995 – Nameplates presented at the frame laying ceremony, January
- 1995 – First wheel cast
- 1996 – Three cylinder castings unveiled at Tyseley, 25 May
- 1997 – Frame displayed at the Great Hall at the National Railway Museum, March
- 1997 – Tornado unveiled at Darlington Locomotive Works
- 1999 – Smokebox door complete, Tornado's symbolic 'face'
- 2000 – Construction over 50% complete (Summer)
- 2000 – Wheelset added (Autumn)
- 2004 – The book value of Tornado components reaches 1 million pounds
- 2004 – First synchronous smooth wheel motion, 25 August
- 2007 – Boiler/firebox assembly fitted to frame, June
- 2008 – First static steaming, January
- 2008 – Tender completed, February
- 2008 – Tornado publicly launched, Darlington Locomotive Works, 1 August 2008
- 2008 – First passenger train hauled, preserved Great Central RailwayGreat Central Railway (preserved)The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...
. Loughborough, 21 September - 2008 – Main line testing begins, National Railway MuseumNational Railway MuseumThe National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
, York, 4 November - 2008 – Third and final main line test run completed, York, 19 November
- 2008 – First full livery unveiled (minus nameplates), LNER Apple Green, York, 13 December
- 2009 – The Peppercorn Pioneer, the first passenger journey on the UK Main Line, 31 January 2009
- 2009 – Hauls her first Talisman from Darlington to Kings Cross, 7 February
- 2009 - First London departures Waterloo and Victoria, 14 February
- 2009 - First A1 to run on the Southern Region, 14 February
- 2009 - Tornado was officially named by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, 19 February
- 2009 - Becomes only the 3rd steam locomotive to haul the Royal Train behind 6233 Duchess of Sutherland and 6024 King Edward 1st, 19 February
- 2009 - Tornado made her first journey into Scotland with "The Auld Reekie Express" from York to Edinburgh, 28 February
- 2009 - Tornado becomes the first A1 out of Edinburgh for 40 years with the North Briton from Edinburgh to York, 7 March
- 2009 - First A1 out of Kings Cross for 40 years, 18 April
- 2009 - Hauls VSOE stock for the first time, 18 April
- 2009 - BBC Top Gear Race filmed, 25 April 2009
- 2009 - Suffers first mechanical failure at the North Yorkshire Moors RailwayNorth Yorkshire Moors RailwayThe North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The line...
, 2 May 2009 - 2009 - Institution of Mechanical EngineersInstitution of Mechanical EngineersThe Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
present Tornado with Engineering Heritage Award at York, 23 May 2009 - 2009 - First A1 on the Great Western, 30 May
- 2009 - Top Gear Race to the NorthTop Gear Race to the NorthThe Top Gear Race to the North was a three way race between a Jaguar XK120 car, a Vincent Black Shadow motorbike, and railway locomotive 60163 Tornado – a brand new mainline steam engine completed in Britain in 2008. The race saw the car, bike and locomotive, race from London, England, to...
broadcast on BBC 2, 21 June - 2009 - First A1 and LNER/BR locomotive to run in Kent, 21 June
- 2009 - Returns to Tyseley Works for Tyseley 101 Gala, 27/28 June
- 2009 - Reaches 10000 miles (16,093.4 km) on Torbay Express, 5 July
- 2009 - Tornado made her first journey to Plymouth on 8 August hauling The Tamar Tornado.
- 2009 - Hauls the British leg of the Winton Train from Harwich to London Liverpool Street, 4 September
- 2009 - Hauls first train along the LSWR main line, 13 September
- 2009 - Hauls first trains over the Settle and Carlisle line, 3/4 October
- 2009 - Hauls first train over Shap, 10 October
- 2009 - Rescues Stranded commuters after Kent's Railways Shut down after heavy snow fall
- 2010 - Hauls the Royal Train with TRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall for the second time in a year to the Manchester Museum Of Science and Industry, 4 February
- 2010 - First time at Paddington Station Valentine Special, 14 February
- 2010 - First visit to the Mid-Hants Railway (Watercress LineWatercress LineThe Watercress Line is the marketing name of the Mid-Hants Railway, a heritage railway in Hampshire, England, running from New Alresford to Alton where it connects to the National Rail network. The line gained its popular name in the days that it was used to transport locally grown watercress to...
) for their Spring Steam Gala - 2010 - First visit to Norwich Railway Station ,Great Eastern Explorer Promoted by Amethyst Experience LTD on 28 May
- 2010 - First mainline failure on "The Canterbury Tornado" railtour, 31 May
- 2010 - Hauls Mallard in tow to Shildon Locomotion MuseumShildon Locomotion MuseumShildon Locomotion Museum is a railway museum in Shildon, County Durham, England. The museum is a branch of the National Railway Museum , which is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry...
from the National Railway MuseumNational Railway MuseumThe National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
, with a support coach and 44798 also in tow - 2010 - Beats previous record for fastest steam hauled railtour over Shap summit by 19 seconds, 24 June
- 2010 - Failed at Rugby on "The Christmas Coronation" (Day 3) with low steam pressure after several problems en route, mainly due to poor quality coal from Russia. Tornado could barely reach 100 pound per square inch 20 November
- 2010 - Returns to York NRM for maintenance and to be repainted to lined "Brunswick Green" December
- 2011 - Boiler returned to DB Meiningen for repairs January
- 2011 - Boiler refitted and passes steam test April.
- 2011 - Unveiled at NRM in lined Brunswick Green with initial BR 'Lion and wheel' symbol (9th February)
- 2011 - Hauls the longest public steam day excursion since 1968 - 505 miles from Crewe via Manchester, Shap and Beattock to Glasgow and return via Wigan (21 September)
Livio Dante Porta
Livio Dante Porta
Livio Dante Porta was an Argentine steam locomotive engineer. He is particularly remembered for his innovative modifications to existing locomotive systems in order to obtain higher performance, energy efficiency and reduced pollution. He developed the Kylpor and Lempor exhaust systems...
contacted the trust, hailing the project as the start of a "renaissance of steam technology". In 1992, he submitted A proposal for the Tornado project. In it, he proposed to the trust several design improvements that could be made to Tornado that, while preserving the outer form, would make Tornado a second-generation steam locomotive
Advanced steam technology
Advanced steam technology reflects an approach to the technical development of the steam engine intended for a wider variety of applications than has recently been the case...
.
Since the trust was not creating a replica of a Peppercorn A1, but the next in class, the proposals were duly considered. However, the trust decided it could only adopt some of the proposals, and improved Tornado remains strictly a first-generation locomotive. The trust felt there were too many risks in adopting all of the untried proposals, and in Porta's own words, it would have taken 20,000 test miles to iron out his improvements, something the trust probably could not finance. The expense of testing the heavily modified preserved Duke of Gloucester was also cited as a factor.
Ironically, in 2003, it was decided to make Tornado oil-fired, for cost and operational reasons, following earlier dual-fuelled coal-and-oil-fired proposals in 1998, when boiler design commenced. This was later abandoned in favour of the original design of coal firing, due to the large increase in global fuel prices, and to save the certification costs of this design difference.
Draughting
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
(NRM). Due to there being no general arrangement drawing of a Peppercorn A1, one from an A2
LNER Peppercorn Class A2
The London and North Eastern Railway Peppercorn Class A2 is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work by Arthur Peppercorn, the chief designer of the LNER after Edward Thompson...
was used.
Many of the drawings originally used at Doncaster Works for the A1 Peppercorn class had been preserved at the NRM, and a team of volunteers spent three days collating these in the autumn of 1991. The original drawings were India ink
India ink
India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...
drawings on linen; these had to be scanned into a Computer Aided Design (CAD) software program, as the microfilm NRM copies were not suitable for manufacturing purposes, and direct dyeline copies could not be made. About 95 percent of the original drawings were found, with 1,100 scanned by 1993, and a further 140 in 2001. A few poor-quality originals required re-drawing.
Updated specifications were required to be drawn up to account for out of date material specifications and drawing notes whose original meaning could not be determined. Other design details were also obtained through interviews with Arthur Peppercorn
Arthur Peppercorn
Arthur Henry Peppercorn, OBE was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway.- Career :...
's former assistant, J.F. Harrison.
Changes from original
the rough riding faults of the original 49 Peppercorn A1s.
The whistle is not an A1, it is an A4 whistle, procured from the scrapped loco "Golden Eagle"
The following design changes were made for cost or operational reasons:
- All welded boiler (i.e. not riveted)
- Steel firebox (not copper)
- One-piece frames
- Roller bearings
- Improved front bogie
- Improved steam circuit
- Altered tender coal/water balance (more water)
- Overall weight reduction
Additionally, to meet current safety and operation standards, Tornado includes:
- Up-rated electrical supplies
- Primary air (not steam) brakes
- LED cluster based head-tail lamps
- Vacuum brakes (for heritage railway stock)
- 1 inch (2.5 cm) reduction in overall height (for overhead line equipmentOverhead linesOverhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
(OLE) regulations) - Automatic Warning SystemAutomatic Warning SystemThe Automatic Warning System is a form of limited cab signalling and train protection system introduced in 1956 in the United Kingdom to help train drivers observe and obey signals. It was based on a 1930 system developed by Alfred Ernest Hudd and marketed as the "Strowger-Hudd" system...
(AWS), - Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS).
- Data recorderEvent recorderA Train event recorder is similar to the flight data recorder found on aircraft. It records data about the operation of train controls and performance in response to those controls and other train control systems.Data storage is provided by magnetic tape, battery-backed RAM and, most recently,...
- European Rail Traffic Management SystemEuropean Rail Traffic Management SystemThe European Rail Traffic Management System is an initiative backed by the European Union to enhance cross-border interoperability and signalling procurement by creating a single Europe-wide standard for train control and command systems....
(ERTMS) compatible GSM-Railway (GSM-R) cab radio
With advances in manufacturing, as opposed to the original Peppercorn A1, which had two-piece frames riveted together, Tornado's 48 in 6 in (14.78 m) long steel plates were electronically cut from one piece of steel. These are probably the most accurate steam locomotive frames ever produced.
The tender was redesigned internally, removing the water scoop, increasing the water capacity from 5,000 to 6,000 gallons, and reducing coal capacity from 9 to 7.5 tons.
A 1 inches (25.4 mm) reduction in height from the original 13 in 1 in (3.99 m) height was required by the Network Rail OLE regulations, and was achieved by a redesign of the dome and safety valve mountings on the boiler, and by reprofiling of the cab roof and chimney.
Testing was planned to occur with a lipped chimney, and on receipt of the first full livery, Tornado would be fitted with an authentic rimless chimney, described as the original non-capped version. The fluted chimney intended for Apple Green running was still not fitted at the time of the green livery launch on 13 December, due to it still being machined at the manufacturer. It was completed and fitted in time for the inaugural main line passenger run. The locomotive chimney would also be fitted with a spark arrestor. The locomotive number on the smokebox door may be moved higher up as was "once the norm" (requiring the moving of the lamp-bracket). Moving the number plate above the smokebox door hand-rail was confirmed as being intended at the time of Tornado's unveiling at the NRM. Tornado would also be fitted with a chime whistle
Steam whistle
A steam whistle is a device used to produce sound with the aid of live steam, which acts as a vibrating system .- Operation :...
from an A4 class locomotive.
Tender
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...
was acquired, although later returned unused, allowing Tornado to remain a completely originally manufactured locomotive.
By 2002, it was agreed that a flush sided (all welded) boiler and tender was appropriate for a Darlington-built Peppercorn A1, making construction and maintenance easier. In 2003 the need for a second tender for Tornado was discounted. The tender features spoked wheels as per at least three historical LNER Peppercorn A1s.
Boiler
Consideration of the boilerBoiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
began in late 1998. No standard gauge boiler had been built in Britain since the 1960s, at least not for such a large engine. It was required to be based on the original LNER Diagram 118 design but had to meet modern safety standards. Design changes included the cheaper modern-day fabrication method of a welded rather than a rivet
Rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...
ed firebox and boiler tube, the use of steel rather than copper for the firebox, and the height reduction for OLE regulations.
While manufacturing facilities still existed in Britain to manufacture such a large component, because of the design differences from the originals the trust required a supplier with specific experience of designing, building and certification of steam engine boilers to modern safety regulations, as required by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's Pressure Equipment Directive
Pressure Equipment Directive
The Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC of the EU sets out the standards for the design and fabrication of pressure equipment generally over one litre in volume and having a maximum pressure more than 0.5 bar gauge...
.
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works
Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works
The Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works is a railway repair shop in Meiningen, Germany. It is owned by Deutsche Bahn and has specialised in the maintenance of museum steam locomotives since 1990, having extensive experience in maintaining steam engines. Today, customers of the factory include...
in the former East Germany was identified as a supplier. They possessed the required knowledge as mainline steam operation had continued in East Germany until the mid-1980s, 70% of their work still involved steam, and they still possessed the powerful plate roller machines. The trust did not have funding to place the order until January 2005.
On 16 July 2006 the boiler arrived by sea and was unloaded at Darlington with a 200-ton crane, having taken just nine months to build. The fitting of the 21-ton firebox and boiler unit to the wheeled locomotive frame was said to have been a perfect fit
Engineering fit
Fit refers to the mating of two mechanical components. Manufactured parts are very frequently required to mate with one another. They may be designed to slide freely against one another or they may be designed to bind together to form a single unit...
, requiring no grinding
Angle grinder
An angle grinder, also known as a side or disc grinder, is a handheld power tool used for cutting, grinding and polishing.Angle grinders can be powered by an electric motor, petrol engine or compressed air. The motor drives a geared head at a right-angle on which is mounted an abrasive disc or a...
at all, a tribute to the accuracy of the design and construction by the Meiningen works. The fitting was not without incident though, as the extra weight caused some compaction
Soil compaction
In Geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which a stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water being displaced from between the soil grains then...
of the track bed, and assistance was required to move the locomotive back into the works, being winched, towed by a forklift truck
Forklift truck
A forklift is a powered industrial truck used to lift and transport materials. The modern forklift was developed in the 1920s by various companies including the transmission manufacturing company Clark and the hoist company Yale & Towne Manufacturing...
and pushed with Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
s.
A further modification to the boiler design has been the use of hollow stays. Stays support and separate the outer boiler and inner firebox. The hollow stays act as an indicator of any cracks in the otherwise inaccessible stays, such cracks being revealed by water leaks. Leaks have in fact been detected and have led to the locomotive being unavailable for service. In July 2010 while replacement stays were fitted, Mark Allatt, chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented "Although the problems with Tornado’s boiler are part of learning about the locomotive in today’s operational environment, they are a source of great disappointment to all of Tornado's supporters and customers and our customers' passengers. We are working as hard as we can to bring Tornado back to full health as soon as possible and back onto the main line where she belongs."
Motion and wheelset
The motion components cost £150,000: taking £50,000 to forge (and requiring three years to complete) and £100,000 to machine. The first mainline steam locomotive wheelset manufacture in Britain since 1960 took five years, involved nine suppliers and cost £100,000, even with generous sponsorship. The wheels were so smooth that the complete locomotive could easily be pushed out of the works by human power alone, as seen the locomotive was moved outside in preparation for the first steam-powered moves. If the locomotive were to be suspended, the entire wheel and motion arrangement could be turned by hand.Manufacture
1995–2000
Actual manufacture and construction had started in 1994, before the Darlington works opened, with casting of the cylinders (late 1994) and wheels, cutting of the framesLocomotive frame
A locomotive frame is the structure that forms the backbone of the railway locomotive, giving it strength and supporting the superstructure elements such as a cab, boiler or bodywork. The vast majority of locomotives have had a frame structure of some kind...
and construction of the cab
Cab (locomotive)
The cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive is the part of the locomotive housing the train driver or engineer, the fireman or driver's assistant , and the controls necessary for the locomotive's operation....
. The locomotive frames were assembled at Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham, being ceremonially laid there on 5 January 1995, and completed by October 1996.
In March 1997, Tornado, as a completed frame and inside cylinder, was displayed at the Great Hall at the NRM for several weeks, transported from Tyseley by an EWS freight wagon. She returned to Tyseley to await completion of the Darlington works. The elements of Tornado were brought together with the opening of Darlington Locomotive Works in 1997, and the opening ceremony saw the unveiled locomotive, now consisting of the frame with its three cylinders and cab attached. Spring 1998 saw the smokebox construction started and the tyres fitted, and by 1999 forging of the motion components started, the first delivery of components commencing in January 2000.
2000–05
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
had been assembled. With the fitting of these parts, the mounting of the frame onto the wheelset, and fitting of the smokebox, by the end of 2000, the most visible missing parts of Tornado were the boiler and tender.
Post-2000, assembly and setting of the motion proceeded, and attention turned to the design of the boiler; a £250,000 appeal was launched. Tornado became a rolling chassis by October 2002, and achieved the first synchronous movement of the motion and all wheels in August 2004.
2005–08
2005 also saw construction of the boiler in Germany, with construction begun on 16 October, and completed in time for delivery on 16 July 2006. By June 2007 Tornado's internal construction was sufficiently complete to allow fitting of the boiler to the frame, using a 100-ton crane. The most complex casting, the superheaterSuperheater
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used for power generation or processes. There are three types of superheaters namely: radiant, convection, and separately fired...
header, was started in 2007, and after defeating two foundries the complex shape was cast by a third supplier.
Owing to space constraints at Darlington works, the Tornado tender frames and body were built off-site, with the body being significantly built locally in Darlington. The tender wheelsets were assembled by an East Lancs Railway-based company. The tender frame and wheel set were united by December 2007, and the tank attached to it by February 2008.
Components and boiler
Computer simulation
A computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system...
was used to assist in the setting up of the valves and motion. The boiler safety valves were tested on LNER Class A4
LNER Class A4
The Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive, designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognizable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard, still claims the...
60009 Union of South Africa
LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa
60009 Union of South Africa is an LNER Class A4 steam locomotive built in Doncaster in 1937. Originally named Osprey, it is one of six surviving Gresley A4s and is presently undergoing an extensive overhaul.-Names:...
at the Severn Valley Railway
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...
before their delivery to Meiningen
Meiningen
Meiningen is a town in Germany - located in the southern part of the state of Thuringia and is the district seat of Schmalkalden-Meiningen. It is situated on the river Werra....
for fitting to the boiler.
On 10 July 2006, the boiler was hydraulically tested at the manufacturer's at one-and-a-half times working pressure and was passed safe. On 11 January 2008 the boiler passed its first steam test, in tests carried out by an external boiler inspector. The boiler was noted by the inspector to be a very rapid boiler, boding well for use on the main line. As also noted by the inspector, being brand new Tornado's boiler exhibited no leaks of any kind during the test, in contrast to heritage restorations.
For the test, the fire was lit and the boiler was allowed to warm up over 48 hours before being then taken up to 260psi, just over the maximum working pressure. During the test, the boiler safety valve
Safety valve
A safety valve is a valve mechanism for the automatic release of a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or other system when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits....
s were set to the correct pressure.
At that time the tender body was not yet finished, so the test was conducted using a water bowser
Bowser (tanker)
A bowser is a generic name for a tanker of various kinds.- Water :The term bowser is used by water companies in the United Kingdom to refer to mobile water tanks deployed to distribute fresh water in emergency situations where the normal system of piped distribution has broken down or is insufficient...
. The boiler was creating steam so efficiently that the water supply was being used faster than it could be replenished by the mains water supply to the works. In order to complete the test and not prematurely damp down the fire, an emergency call for water was made to the local fire brigade
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
, who responded with a fire engine to supply more water. This was sensationally but inaccurately reported in one local newspaper as "fire brigade called to prevent boiler explosion
Boiler explosion
A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. As seen today, boiler explosions are of two kinds. One kind is over-pressure in the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. The second kind is explosion in the furnace. Boiler explosions of pressure parts are particularly associated...
".
Launch of steam trials
Low speed trials of Tornado as a steaming locomotive first occurred on the 500 feet (152.4 m) long Darlington works track. After a series of private tests in the days beforehand, in which Tornado made her first in-steam moves on 29 July, Tornado was launched on 1 August 2008, moving up and down the test siding in front of the press.The 1 August launch was timely, as it coincided with the 40th anniversary of the end of steam on British Railways, on 4 August 1968, and with the 60th anniversary of the entry into traffic of No. 60114 W.P. Allen, the first Peppercorn A1 class locomotive.
Great Central Railway
From Darlington works, Tornado was moved by road on two articulated lorries to the 60 miles per hour (96.6 km/h) preserved Great Central RailwayGreat Central Railway (preserved)
The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...
, where she would perform mileage accumulation and testing, before hauling her first passenger trains.
After being transported to the GCR on 19 August 2008, Tornado was unloaded at Quorn and Woodhouse
Quorn and Woodhouse railway station
Quorn and Woodhouse railway station is a heritage station on the Great Central Railway serving Quorn & Woodhouse in Leicestershire. Travelling south from Loughborough, it is the first station that is reached. Here there is a large station yard which is suitable for parking...
station the following day, and towed to the GCR Loughborough shed.
Tornado performed her first non-stop mile run at the GCR on 21 August, and hauled her first empty trains on 22 August. For the GCR Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...
themed bank holiday weekend (23–25 August), Tornado wore a small Thomas face for light runs during the days.
HM Railway Inspectorate
Established in 1840, HM Railway Inspectorate was the British organisation responsible for overseeing safety on Britain's railways and tramways...
(HMRI) approval, 60 mi/h running was achieved by the end of September 2008. Prior to mid-October 2008, Tornado had achieved 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) of fault-free running. By the end of October, Tornado had run 1500 miles (2,414 km).
While at the GCR, Tornado hauled empty passenger trains at speeds up to 60 mi/h, and load test trains of up to around 500 tons. One load test in September involved the hauling of a rake of 11 empty coaches and a dead Class 45 diesel locomotive
British Rail Class 45
The British Rail Class 45 also known as the Sulzer Type 4 diesel locomotives were built by British Rail at their Derby and Crewe Works between 1960 and 1962...
. Also in one load test, over 2,000edhp (Effective Drawbar Horsepower) was recorded. On 10 September Tornado was officially timed for the first time, hauling 518 tons up the 1 in 176 gradient south from Rothley railway station
Rothley railway station
Rothley railway station is a heritage railway station on the preserved section of the Great Central Railway's London Extension. Built to the standard island platform pattern of country stations on the line, it originally opened on 15 March 1899 and has been restored to late Edwardian era...
.
According to the preserved railway's president, Tornado achieved a "smooth debut" while at the GCR. Tornado was also described to have performed in the testing and passenger runs "effortlessly" and "faultlessly".
National Railway Museum
EWS
DB Schenker Rail , before 2009 known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway is a British rail freight company. EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation in 1996 by acquisition of five of the six freight companies created by the privatisation of British...
.
Three test runs on the main line were planned, for the 4, 6 and 18 November 2008, involving out and back journeys departing from York in the evenings. The first would be to Scarborough. Two further runs would occur to Barrow Hill
Barrow Hill railway station
Barrow Hill railway station was originally opened as Staveley in 1841, a year after the opening of the North Midland Railway to serve Staveley, Derbyshire.Allen's guide of 1842 writes of Staveley upon the hill to the left ; Mr...
, Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
, and to Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
.
The Scarborough run would be a round trip of 84 miles (135.2 km) with a support coach only. The Barrow Hill run would see Tornado haul a 500-ton load, consisting of a rake of 12 coaches and a Class 67 diesel locomotive
British Rail Class 67
The Class 67 locomotives are a class of Bo'Bo' diesel electric mainline locomotives which were built for the English, Welsh and Scottish Railway between 1999 to 2000 by Alstom at Meinfesa in Valencia, Spain with drive components from General Motors Diesel.Rail enthusiasts have nicknamed the class...
, at up to 60 mi/h, on a 142 miles (228.5 km) round trip. The Newcastle run would be a 176 miles (283.2 km) round trip at up to 75 mi/h, with a rake of empty coaches.
The first test run ran successfully on 4 November 2008 "with no discernible problems". The second test also ran on 6 November. The morning of 19 November 2008 marked the successful completion of the third and final test run.
Following the completion of the mainline test tuns, Tornado entered the NRM paintshop to receive her first proper livery, and was unveiled in a launch ceremony on 13 December 2008. After some brief further work behind the scenes, Tornado returned to the NRM turntable on 22 December and was displayed there over the Christmas period until 11 January 2009, whereupon she was moved back into the workshops to undergo preparation for her main line passenger debut.
While Tornado was based at the NRM, on 21 January 2009 a £250,000 funding appeal, Save Our Scotsman, was launched for completion of the restoration of LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...
, a long-term resident of the NRM workshops since being taken out of service for overhaul in December 2005. Inevitable comparisons were drawn with the Tornado project, with it being highlighted that as of the end of 2008 the cost to the NRM since 2004 of restoring Flying Scotsman (£2.2m purchasing and £742,000 overhauling) was almost the exact cost of building Tornado from scratch. In particular, as of January 2008, the believed cost of £800,000 for Tornado's brand new boiler from Germany was less than the latest NRM budget of £850,000 for restoring Flying Scotsman's A3 boiler, which had risen from earlier estimates due to the boiler's poor condition and the rising cost of copper.
Certification
As a new build locomotive, certification is more complex than for a restoration, and requires liaison with Network Rail, HMRI and a vehicle acceptance body (VAB), with the origin of all construction materials needing to be documented and every aspect of the manufacture recorded. Following manufacture, a technical file and Notified BodyNotified Body
A Notified Body, in the European Union, is an organisation that has been accredited by a Member State to assess whether a product meets certain preordained standards. Assessment can include inspection and examination of a product, its design and manufacture...
certificate will be obtained on completion of a manufacturing and maintenance procedures review.
Tornado is required to pass the 2006 European Interoperability of the conventional rail system Directive, achieved through compliance with the National Notified Technical Rules (formerly the Railway Group Standards). Certification of Tornado is being managed by the trust's UK Notified Body, DeltaRail Group Ltd
DeltaRail Group
DeltaRail Group Limited is a British railway software, technology and services company.The company was formed from Rail business of AEA Technology plc which was acquired as part of a secondary private equity portfolio sale to Vision Capital Limited in 2006...
. Tornado is exempted from portions of the regulations, as are many main line steam locomotives, such as from the need for a yellow warning panel, or crumple zone
Crumple zone
The crumple zone is a structural feature mainly of automobiles. Crumple zones have also been incorporated into railcars in recent years.They are designed to absorb the energy from the impact during an accident by controlled deformation. This energy is much higher than is commonly recognized...
s.
In liaison with Network Rail, a route acceptance strategy will be agreed. Approval for Tornado to enter service will be granted by the Office of Rail Regulation
Office of Rail Regulation
The Office of Rail Regulation is a statutory board which is the combined economic and safety regulatory authority for Great Britain's railway network. It was established on 5 July 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, replacing the Rail Regulator...
(ORR). This will be in two stages, approval under the 'Railway and Other Transport Systems regulations, for use on the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway (preserved)
The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...
(GCR) and other preserved lines, and then as an 'interoperable' locomotive for use on the British main line network.
Testing of the On-Train Monitoring Recorder (OTMR), Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS), Automatic Warning System
Automatic Warning System
The Automatic Warning System is a form of limited cab signalling and train protection system introduced in 1956 in the United Kingdom to help train drivers observe and obey signals. It was based on a 1930 system developed by Alfred Ernest Hudd and marketed as the "Strowger-Hudd" system...
(AWS), and air brakes was done at the GCR. These tests are standard for all steam locomotives requiring certification for the main line. Regulator position and locomotive speed are both recorded by the on-train recording equipment, stored under the driver's seat.
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
(GPS) unit to measure the precise speed and distance travelled every metre. Measurements were taken on board by 21 sensors attached to the locomotive, measuring pitch and roll, and acceleration and deceleration. Measurements were also taken through the use of track-side sensors measuring side forces exerted on the track, augmented with freeze-frame footage of the position of the wheels as they passed. The results were compared with control readings
Scientific control
Scientific control allows for comparisons of concepts. It is a part of the scientific method. Scientific control is often used in discussion of natural experiments. For instance, during drug testing, scientists will try to control two groups to keep them as identical and normal as possible, then...
taken at the same site using Oliver Cromwell
BR standard class 7 70013 Oliver Cromwell
70013 Oliver Cromwell is a British Railways standard class 7 preserved steam locomotive. The locomotive is notable as one of the four steam locomotives which worked the last steam railtour on British Railways in 1968 before the introduction of a steam ban.-Career:One of 55 of the "Britannia"...
, two weeks later. The preliminary results were described as producing "no untoward signals".
Hammer blow
Hammer blow, in rail terminology, refers to the vertical forces transferred to the track by the driving wheels of a steam locomotive and some diesel locomotives. The largest proportion of this is due to the unbalanced reciprocating motion, although the piston thrusts also contribute a portion to it...
. Completion of a test run between York and Leeds on 28 January 2009 signalled the gaining of certification to haul passengers on the Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
main line.
In January 2009, the railway press reported that a discrepancy had emerged in the 18 November 2008 75 mi/h test, whereby the OTMR recording equipment on the Class 67 being towed had recorded a top speed of around 100 mi/h, while the A1 data recorder measured speeds "nearer the 75 mi/h" mark. It was stated that while a 10% overspeed
Overspeed (engine)
Overspeed is a condition in which an engine is allowed or forced to turn beyond its design limit. The consequences of running an engine too fast vary by engine type and model and depend upon several factors, chief amongst them the duration of the overspeed and by the speed attained...
is allowed (and may be required) in such new equipment test runs (A4 Class 4464 Bittern
LNER Class A4 4464 Bittern
4464 Bittern is a London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 steam locomotive. Built for the LNER in 1937 at Doncaster Works as works number 1866, it was originally numbered 4464. It was renumbered 19 on 16 August 1946 under the LNER 1946 renumbering scheme and after nationalisation in 1948 BR added...
reached 83 mi/h in 2007,) Tornado had not been planned or authorised to do so on this test. It was suggested that the discrepancy might been down to the equipment on the Class 67 having had its gearing altered but not having been recalibrated.
Passenger operation
Bluebell Railway
The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East and West Sussex, England. Steam trains are operated between and , with an intermediate station at .The railway is managed and run largely by volunteers...
in August 2010. It will be put onto a low loader again to be transported back to Darlington for overhaul, after five years' service.
It was expected that the first phase of main line operational running would be limited to trips of 200 to 250 miles (402.3 km). The expanded water capacity of the tender allows legs of over 100 miles (160.9 km) between water stops, 25 miles (40.2 km) further than the original Peppercorn A1s.
To assist in passenger operation, in 2008 the Trust purchased their own support coach, a British Railways Mark 1
British Railways Mark 1
British Railways Mark 1 was the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways. Following nationalisation in 1948, BR had continued to build carriages to the designs of the "Big Four" companies , and the Mark 1 was intended to be the...
Brake Composite Corridor type, No. 21249, which as of spring 2010 is still not in use. Tornado has a route availability
Route availability
Route Availability is the system by which the permanent way and supporting works of the National Rail network of Great Britain are graded. All routes are allocated an RA number between 1 and 10....
of 9.
Inaugural trains on the Great Central Railway
Following the gaining of HMRI approval the previous week, Tornado made her passenger train debut on 21 September 2008 at the GCR.The inaugural train was formed of a rake of eight carriages, formed (from the front) of three 'blood and custard' liveried coaches, four green liveried coaches, and a special rear coach. This rear coach was a restored LNER beavertail observation car
Observation car
An observation car/carriage/coach is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the last carriage, with windows on the rear of the car for passengers' viewing pleasure...
. This train departed at 10.15 am from Quorn and Woodhouse
Quorn and Woodhouse railway station
Quorn and Woodhouse railway station is a heritage station on the Great Central Railway serving Quorn & Woodhouse in Leicestershire. Travelling south from Loughborough, it is the first station that is reached. Here there is a large station yard which is suitable for parking...
station, and ran non-stop to Leicester North station, back to Loughborough, and then to Quorn. Five trains in all ran on this first day, with all special services being restricted to those involved with the Trust, with Tornado running around in a non-platform
Railway platform
A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...
passing loop
Passing loop
A passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...
at Loughborough Central
Loughborough Central railway station
Loughborough Central Station is a railway station on the Great Central Railway and the Great Central Railway serving Loughborough....
. On this day, 1,000–2,000 covenantors, donors and guests travelled on the service.
The first public trains for fare-paying passengers began the next day on 22 September 2008, limited to the normal line speed. On this day, over 1,000 passengers were carried on the three sold-out trips.
Heritage railways
Boys' Brigade
For the 80s New Wave band from Canada, see Boys Brigade .The Boys' Brigade is an interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values...
wearing a special headboard on 4 October 2008, and hauled the preserved GCR Travelling Post Office
Travelling Post Office
A Travelling Post Office was a type of mail train in the UK where the post was sorted en-route. The last Travelling Post Office services were ended on 9 January 2004, with the carriages used now sold for scrap or to preservation societies....
rake.
The last passenger operation at the GCR was on Sunday 12 October 2008, the culmination of a three-day gala weekend event. Tornado operated over the weekend alongside Leander
LMS Jubilee Class 5690 Leander
London Midland and Scottish Railway Jubilee Class No. 5690 Leander is a preserved British steam locomotive.- Overview :...
, Oliver Cromwell
BR standard class 7 70013 Oliver Cromwell
70013 Oliver Cromwell is a British Railways standard class 7 preserved steam locomotive. The locomotive is notable as one of the four steam locomotives which worked the last steam railtour on British Railways in 1968 before the introduction of a steam ban.-Career:One of 55 of the "Britannia"...
and Lord Nelson, which was to have an "end of steam" theme. The first announced heritage event for Tornado was an appearance at the 2009 Spring gala at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The line...
, 1–10 May.
Following a servicing visit on her 6 November 2008 test run, Tornado returned to the Barrow Hill roundhouse
Barrow Hill Engine Shed
Barrow Hill Roundhouse & Railway Centre, until 1948 known as Staveley Roundhouse & Train Centre, is a former Midland Railway roundhouse in Barrow Hill, near Staveley and Chesterfield, Derbyshire .-History:...
on the weekend of 4–5 April, arriving on 30 March. As well as Tornado, the LNER themed event featured, among others, the LNER locomotives A2 Class 60532 Blue Peter, and the A4 Classes 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley
LNER Class A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley
London and North Eastern Railway A4 Class number 4498 , 7 and 60007 , namedSir Nigel Gresley is a preserved British steam locomotive.-Liveries:...
and 4488 Union of South Africa
LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa
60009 Union of South Africa is an LNER Class A4 steam locomotive built in Doncaster in 1937. Originally named Osprey, it is one of six surviving Gresley A4s and is presently undergoing an extensive overhaul.-Names:...
. At this event, Tornado was posed alongside narrow gauge (15 inches (38.1 cm)) locomotive No.7 Typhoon of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is a gauge light railway in Kent, England. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St...
, recreating an LNER publicity shot held previously with Typhoon and LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...
. 60532 Blue Peter, which is a semi-permanent resident of Barrow Hill, was repainted in apple green for display alongside Tornado. The 6 November meeting of Tornado and 60532 Blue Peter in the Barrow Hill roundhouse re-created a scene not witnessed for nearly 50 years. From 16 August 2009 to 2 September 2009, Tornado visited Didcot Railway Centre
Didcot Railway Centre
Didcot Railway Centre, located in the town of Didcot in the English county of Oxfordshire, is based around the site of a comprehensive "engine shed" which became redundant after the nationalisation of the UK railways, due to the gradual changeover from steam to diesel motive power.-Description:The...
. From 24 October 2009 to 7 November, Tornado visited the Severn Valley Railway
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...
for October half term, where it ran with the SVR's LNER set of teak carriages. http://www.svr.co.uk/
In August 2010, Tornado will be visiting the Bluebell Railway
Bluebell Railway
The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East and West Sussex, England. Steam trains are operated between and , with an intermediate station at .The railway is managed and run largely by volunteers...
for its 50th anniversary of operation celebrations. It may arrive via low loader if its East Grinstead extension is not completed despite the fact that the A1 Trust said all movements would be by rail.http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/events/50th.html
http://www.a1steam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=330:tornado-to-attend-the-bluebell-railways-50th-anniversary-celebrations&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=123
Inaugural main line trains
British Transport Police
The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
and Network Rail, due to concerns over crowd safety at Newcastle station due to the 1 February Tyne-Wear football derby match
Tyne-Wear derby
The Tyne and Wear derby is a local derby between the association football clubs Newcastle United and Sunderland. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two cities of Newcastle and Sunderland just ten miles apart. The first meeting of the two sides took place in 1883, with...
between Newcastle United F.C. and Sunderland A.F.C., the second Peppercorn Pioneer was re-arranged into a return trip from Doncaster to Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, with Tornado hauling the train for the outbound leg and part of the return leg.
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
Cathedrals Express excursions from London Victoria on 14 February 2009, a lunch tour and a dinner tour. The lunch tour was later modified to leave from London Waterloo station, making Waterloo as Tornado's first London departure point. Tornado's first Pullman class
Pullman (car or coach)
In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars which were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company from 1867 to December 31, 1968....
train was expected to be a Yorkshire Pullman on 26 February 2009, hauling the British Venice-Simplon Orient Express
Venice-Simplon Orient Express
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is a private luxury train service that travels from London to Venice that is popularly referred to as the Orient Express....
(VSOE) coaching stock from King's Cross to York. This was later postponed to 18 April 2009. The new date also saw Tornado scheduled to run a return journey back to King's Cross on the same day. This was still expected to be Tornado's first passenger departure from King's Cross. Tornado's first trip to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
was The Auld Reekie
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
Express on 28 February 2009, with steam traction one way from York to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. With Following Saturday 7 March making her first journey from Scotland. As of January 2009, the Trust planned to run their own excursions with Tornado over the Settle-Carlisle Line on 3 October 2009 and 4 October 2009.
On 21 December 2009, Tornado rescued about 100 people who were stranded by bad weather at London Victoria station. On that day, a number of electric trains, which picked up their power from the third rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
, were unable to run because of snow and ice on the line. Tornado was to haul a 'Cathedrals Express' lunchtime special service from Victoria; a number of booked passengers had been unable to get there due to the conditions, and so there were spare seats; the train's operators decided to offer these seats to commuters whose trains had been cancelled. Tornado also had an evening 'Cathedrals Express' dining train, and the same offer was again made.
Operational top speed
It was expected that Tornado would achieve certification to be allowed to run at 90 mi/h on the main line, although it was believed this might not occur until 2009. As of January 2009, having gained approval for running at 75 mi/h, "active discussion" was said to be taking place about testing Tornado to "a higher speed".
If 90 mi/h running is achieved, Tornado would also become the second fastest in the world. Regular 90 mi/h steam operation was last seen in Britain in 1967 with the Merchant Navy class
SR Merchant Navy class
The SR Merchant Navy class , was a class of air-smoothed 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotives designed for the Southern Railway of the United Kingdom by Oliver Bulleid...
Pacific locomotives operating on the Waterloo to Bournemouth route
South Western Main Line
The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth...
. The fastest operational steam locomotive in the world is Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...
18.201
DR 18 201
The German express locomotive, number 18 201 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany, appeared in 1960-61 at Meiningen repair shop as a conversion of the Henschel-Wegmann train locomotive 61 002, the tender from 44 468 and parts of H 45 024 and Class 41...
, allowed to run in Germany up to 180 km/h (111.8 mph).
While Tornado will be limited to 75 mi/h on the UK main line, there is a possibility that she could reach higher speeds if transported to Germany. If she was towed through the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
, according to the Trust, Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
had informed the Trust that Tornado would be allowed to run "as fast as [they] like".
Funding
Tornado carries a plaque bearing the following message:Fundraising
A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a Darlington, England based charitable trust formed in 1990 for the primary purpose of completing the next stage of the locomotive heritage movement, the building a new steam locomotive. This project became the construction of 60163 Tornado, carried out by...
. At 1990s prices, the projected cost of the project was £1.6 million.
The trust has used Deeds of Covenant since the start of the project in 1990, marketed under the slogan 'build a main line loco for the price of a pint of beer a week!'. Covenantors can wear a special A1 Trust tie and pay a fixed amount monthly by standing order
Standing order
standing order or standing orders may refer to:*standing order , instruction to a bank to pay a set amount at regular intervals from one account to another...
, and for this they receive honour roll recognition, event and viewing priority, regular trust publications and the right to attend the annual conventions.
In September 1996, the concept of dedicated covenants was launched. Now renamed dedicated donations, these were one-off payments of £25 to £25,000 to sponsor a particular part. As with regular covenantors, dedicated donors receive recognition, and an engineering drawing of the component they sponsored.
In October 1999 a £250,000 appeal was launched to fund the boiler, whose absence was now noticeable with Tornado now comprising a wheeled frame with completed cab and smokebox. As Tornado began to look like a locomotive with the mating of the frame with the wheelset in the Autumn of 2000, fundraising progress increased, breaking previous records by recruiting 100 new covenantors in two months. By 2005, the trust had raised over £1.5m.
Completion of the boiler was achieved through a half million pound bond issue. Following securing the boiler funding, the last major part, the tender, was achieved with a £200,000 single sponsor donation.
As of May 2008, £2.5m had been raised and spent, and the gap to the required £3m had been raised to complete Tornado However, due to the Chinese economic boom causing raw material cost increases, and increased certification costs, a further £50,000 appeal had to be launched if main line running was to be achieved by September.
As of the end of September 2008, the Trust still needed to raise £66,000 to pay for tests and trials to allow main line operation. While at the GCR, the project costs were running at the rate of £10,000 a month, rising to "six-figure bills" for certification in the months up to January 2009.
Launched in 2004, as of January 2009 £100,000 of the Trust's half million pound bond issue offering 4% returns remained unsubscribed.
Sponsorship
Great North Eastern Railway
Great North Eastern Railway was a British train operating company, owned by Sea Containers Ltd. It operated high-speed express train services on the East Coast Main Line from 1996 until 9 December 2007 when the franchise was taken over by National Express East Coast.GNER's primary service routes...
(GNER), the then operator on the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
, became a sponsor, and decorated Darlington station
Darlington railway station
Darlington railway station, also known as Darlington Bank Top, is the main railway station for the town of Darlington, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The station is located on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross....
for the event, as well as offering free travel for trust workers.
The trust gained Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
as a sponsor in Spring 1998. The trust's principal sponsor is a metal casting company, which initially cast the driving wheels on "very advantageous terms", and later assisted with all the wheels and almost all other steel castings. As with GNER, Tornado's links to the East Coast Main Line brought with it support from the next incumbent operator, National Express
National Express East Coast
National Express East Coast was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running high speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland, as part of the East Coast passenger franchise...
, with sponsorship of the third main line test run to Newcastle. Significant savings were made through industrial sponsorship; by 1998 this was keeping costs at 40% of normal. Some components, such as the smokebox door, were even obtained free of charge.
Other
Cost savings of a third of the original were possible in some manufacturing cases, where the building of one locomotive allowed for cheaper construction methods, such as using one-off polystyrene cast patterns. Several other events and fund-raising drives have assisted in funding the project, including a Land's End to John O'Groats bike ride.The Trust also received proceeds from the sale of limited edition models
Rail transport modelling
Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale...
of Tornado in works grey livery. The model was a customised product from The Model Centre (TMC), based on the Bachmann
Bachmann Branchline
Bachmann Branchline is a brand name of Bachmann Industries used for British outline 00 gauge model railways.Bachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader had previously produced models for Palitoy under the 'Mainline' brand...
OO scale
OO gauge
OO gauge or OO scale model railways are the most popular standard-gauge model railway tracks in the U.K. This track gauge is one of several 4mm-scale standards used, but it is the only one to be served by the major manufacturers...
models of the Peppercorn A1 class.
Another grey works Tornado was to be made by TMC but with National Express on her tender from her 18 November mainline test run.
Bachmann released another Tornado model in her BR Apple Green livery just before Christmas 2009. Unlike the TMC models, which featured standard Bachmann A1s repainted in Tornados then grey livery, and unlike the original Bachmann limited edition model of Tornado which had the locomotive in BR Brunswick Green livery with the late BR crest, the apple-green 2009 release was of a new model, with most (though not all) of the detail differences applied. This is particularly evident on the tender, which features the enlarged water capacity and reduced coal storage of Tornado as compared to the 49 original A1s. The model proved extremely popular, to the extent that 10 weeks after going on sale Bachmann stocks were exhausted and more models had to be ordered.
On 25 December 2010 Hornby announced their 2011 range of models, which includes three versions of Tornado: a budget 'Railroad' version in BR Apple Green with simplified printing and lining details; a more detailed BR Apple Green version for the main range; and a version in BR Brunswick Green (with early crest) available as part of a train pack with three maroon coaches.
To recoup the cost of the project and service the debt, once operational Tornado would take over haulage duties on the Trust’s own Talisman railtours, and be offered for hire to heritage railways and other railtour and charter train operators. Whilst at heritage railways, the Trust would also offer driver courses at the controls of Tornado.
A new book on the story of Tornado called Tornado 21st Century Steam, written by The Guardian's
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Jonathan Glacey, was released on 15 October 2010.
Media
A BBC film crew filmed the project at certain points on the journey, up to and including arrival and operation of Tornado running at the GCR. The resulting film was used to make a 30 minute documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, Absolutely Chuffed: The Men Who Built a Steam Engine. It was first broadcast on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on 16 October 2008, as part of their Golden Age of Steam season. The film was released on region 2 DVD on 28 December 2009 with unseen material and DVD extras.
Tornado and the Tornado project was also partly featured in the BBC Four documentary episode The Last Days of Steam (series 8 of the Time Shift documentaries), and also on How Do They Do It?
How Do They Do It?
How Do They Do It? is a television series produced by Wag TV for Discovery Channel. Each programme explores how 2 or 3 ordinary objects are made and used...
(channel Five version, season 3 episode 3). The project also featured on BBC 2's magazine programme Working Lunch
Working Lunch
Working Lunch was a television programme broadcast on BBC Two which covered business, personal finance and consumer news between 1994 and 2010. The programme was first aired on 19 September 1994. It had a quirky, relaxed style, especially when compared to other BBC business shows such as World...
broadcast on 3 December 2007.
Top Gear Race to the North
Edinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
. This private train was filmed by the BBC for a Top Gear Race
Top Gear Races
In Top Gear, a BBC motoring show, one of the show's regular features since 2002 is various forms of racing the presenters undertake, either against each other or against invited guests...
, in which Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
on the train raced James May
James May
James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....
in a Jaguar XK120
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.-History:...
and Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...
on a Vincent Black Shadow
Vincent Black Shadow
The Vincent Black Shadow was a hand-built motorcycle produced by Vincent HRD from 1948. The series "C" which was introduced in 1949 had a 50 degree OHV V-twin engine running a 7.3:1 compression ratio.-Model history:...
motorbike. Tornado was booked to complete the 390.2 miles (628 km) journey in 8 hours 2 minutes, without any passenger stops in stations, but with four water stops en route at Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, Tyne Yard
Tyne Yard
Tyne Yard is a railway yard in Gateshead, England, on the East Coast Main Line, operated by DB Schenker Rail Ltd. The yard is the major freight yard of the region, with the majority of rail freight movements in Tyne and Wear from around the UK passing through the yard.The yard is about south of...
and Berwick
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
, totalling 95 minutes booked stoppage time. May and Hammond were restricted to using A-roads
Great Britain road numbering scheme
The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Great Britain. Each road is given a single letter, which represents the road's category, and a subsequent number, with a length of between 1 and 4 digits. Originally introduced to arrange...
, The Tornado came second beating the bike. The train was formed from the maroon support coach and a uniform rake of nine Royal Scot blood and custard coaches. The race featured in the first episode of the show's 13th series
Top Gear (series 13)
Top Gear returned to BBC Two for a 13th series on 21 June 2009, with the usual presenting team of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig. The series contained 7 episodes. Despite forced budget cuts, series 13 contained new challenges, new power tests, more foreign travel and more...
, airing on 21 June 2009.
Models
Bachmann BranchlineBachmann Branchline
Bachmann Branchline is a brand name of Bachmann Industries used for British outline 00 gauge model railways.Bachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader had previously produced models for Palitoy under the 'Mainline' brand...
produce a model in OO gauge
OO gauge
OO gauge or OO scale model railways are the most popular standard-gauge model railway tracks in the U.K. This track gauge is one of several 4mm-scale standards used, but it is the only one to be served by the major manufacturers...
. Other suppliers have produced detailed drawings.
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is the leading brand of model railway in the United Kingdom. Its roots date back to 1901, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first 00 gauge train...
have announced that they will be producing a OO gauge
OO gauge
OO gauge or OO scale model railways are the most popular standard-gauge model railway tracks in the U.K. This track gauge is one of several 4mm-scale standards used, but it is the only one to be served by the major manufacturers...
Tornado in 2 different liveries. There will be one highly detailed version in the main range and one in the railroad range appealing to the younger modeller. There will also be a Tornado in BR Brunswick green with the early BR Totem as part of a set.
Further reading
- The Tornado Story, by Tony Streeter. The official Trust book, up to the Great Central Railway
External links
Official siteGeneral information
- LNER encyclopedia
- News editor gets Tornado driving lesson The Daily Mail science section
- Funding model BBC News
Images Tornado in LNER Apple Green
Audio
- Interview with Ian Howitt of the trust about the construction of Tornado BBC Tees
- Sound clip of the Locomotive hauling The Talisman
Videos
- Tornado arriving at Newcastle Central Station (BBC Tyne)
- Tornado being offloaded at the NRM on arrival from the GCR The Northern Echo
- Interviews and tour outside the shed at the GCR on arrival, BBC News
- Interview with driver and static tour at Darlington Locomotive Works during first move weekend
- Tour of Tornado half built at Darlington works BBC Tees
- A1 Trust appearance on Working Lunch, 3 December 2007 BBC 2
Other
- Short editorial on Tornado and Britains love of steam Guardian, 2008
- Long editorial on the project Guardian, 2001