Britain's First New Steam Locomotive in 40 Years

Picture a train in your head, what do you see? Many see a steam locomotive, not a modern diesel train. Steam locomotives spark our imagination and represent a golden age of railway travel. The golden age is back with Tornado, the first newly-built steam locomotive in over 40 years.

18 years of dreaming and dedication have finally come together. On 2nd August, 2008 the new steam locomotive, named Tornado moved for the first time. Tornado's creator, the 'A1 Steam Locomotive Trust' have built her from scratch, using original plans but up-to-the-minute technology.

The 'A1 Steam Locomotive Trust' was set up in 1990 when a group of rail enthusiasts decided an 'A1' should run again. They began fund-raising with the gimmick 'for the price of a pint', at the time this was £1.25. Many people signed up and some today still give £1.25 a week to the trust.

Tornado's full title is – 'Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific 60163 Tornado', she is of a class designed by Arthur Peppercorn for the 'London and North Eastern Railway'. Dorothy Mather, Arthur Peppercorn's widow is the president of 'A1 Steam Locomotive Trust' and was the first to shovel coal into Tornado's boiler earlier this year.

On Tornado's first trip she only had 120 yards of track at 'Darlington Railway Yard' but when her whistle tooted and she hissed for the first time, it was met with a well-deserved round of applause.

Moving for the first time is just the beginning of Tornado's journey, next she will be tested on the 'Great Central Railway' and then on Britain's main line. After that she will run passenger services on the main line – like the Orient Express – being available for private hire.

However, Tornado's future is not secure, fund-raising needs to continue to keep her up and running. Many businesses have collaborated with 'A1 Steam Locomotive Trust', including William Cook Cast Products, Rolls-Royce, Corus and BAe Systems. This year 'A1 Steam Locomotive Trust' have teamed up with Buckingham Covers, a producer of collectable first day covers and stamp sheets. Buckingham Covers have produced collectables to commemorate Tornado's history making moments; moving for the first time, her trial on Great Central Railway and her Main Line trial.

Tornado Factfile (Things to Know)

The project has been funded by a hard won £3 million
150,000 man hours have gone into the construction of Tornado
Painting the Tornado with take a total of 90 litres of paint
Tornado produces around 15,000 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre. That is 90 times a small car, but hauling 12 coaches makes the carbon footprint per passenger tiny compared to even the most economical car.
Tornado's wheels have a 4-6-2 formation, which is known as a 'Pacific' classification. The wheels are over 6ft high and weigh over 2 tonnes each.
The 49 original A1s were built between 1948 and 1949, but none of them escaped the scrapmans' torch, in favour of dieselisation. With an average life of 15 years the last one was scrapped in 1966. Tornado will be the fiftieth A1!

To learn more about Tornado visit www.a1steam.com or to support Tornado and her future by purchasing Tornado collectables visit www.buckinghamcovers.com/tornado

Article Source: http://www.mycontentbuilder.com

Author - Cara Redman. I work at Buckingham Covers a UK leader in collectable first day covers and stamp sheets. www.buckinghamcovers.com/tornado www.buckinghamsheets.com

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