LOCOMOTIVE FOCUS
25 YEARSOF
‘IMPOSSIBLE’ SUCCESS!
Market-leadingnew-buildorganisat ion TheA1Steam Locomotive Trusthas been
markingtwo landmarkanniversaries–not ju st fr om itsown history, butthatoft he
heritage sector as awhole,writesRobinJones.
...AND THERE’S MORE TO COME!
GraemeBunker-James,David
Elliott,BenMcDonald, Alex
Morton andDB Cargodriver
TonyJonespresentTornado
with its25thbirthdaycake.
MIKE GOODFIELD/A1SLTI
tmay seemhardtobelieve,but it’s25 years
sincethe construction of101mph
Peppercorn A1 PacificNo. 60163Tornado
–heldbymanytobea21st-century
equivalentofFlyingScotsman–officially
startedonWednesday,July13, 1994,att he
then BritishSteel facilityinLeeds.
On that day, DorothyMather, thetrust’s
late presidentand widowofArthur
Peppercorn,ceremoniallystarted theCNC
Plasma andOxy fuel profilecuttingsystem
whichcut themainframesfromsteel
donatedbyBritish Steel.
Therewerethose observerswho
maintained that buildinganew steam
locomotive of this size to runonthe UK
main line with out thebenefit of atraditi onal
locomotive workswas impossible.
Sincethen,Tornadohasnot only defied
thecritics,but hasbecomeacelebrity
sure-firecrowd-puller wherever if goes
overthe national networkand onvisits to
heritage railways.
Thesecond majorlandmarkisthatitisfive
yearssince thebuildingofthe trust’ssecond
locomotive,the £5 millionGresley P2 2-8-2
No.2007PrinceofWales,officiallybegan,on
Saturday,July19, when Darlington MP Jenny
Chapmanand thethentownmayor Coun
Gerald Leededicated theengine’sframes.
Sincethen, thegiant locomotive hasstartedto take shapein Darlington Locomotive
Works(DLW) andisnow over40% complete
andontargetfor completion by2022.
TrustpresidentDavid Championsaid:
“Whata25years it hasbeen! After18years
of construction andfundraising thenew
£3 millionlocomotive wasunveiled to the
world’spress at DLWinAugust2008.Popularperformer
“Since completion,No. 60163Tornadohas
coveredover100,000 milesand seenservice
on theNetwork Rail main line andheritage
railways rightacrossGreat Britain. Some
of thehighlightshave includedthree Royal
Trains,withthe firstfollowing thenaming
of thenew locomotive by thePrince of Wales
andthe DuchessofCornwallinFebruary
2009 in honour of thenow-retired RAF
aircraft;the ‘Wintontrain’toc ommemorate
the70thanniver sary on theKindertransport
andthe rescuingofstrandedcommuters
in Kent.”
The‘impossible’proje ct took longerthan
originally anticipatedbutTornadowas
finallyunveiled to theworld’s pressoutside
DLWonAugust1,2008–the firstnew main
linesteam locomotive to be builtinBritain
forover50years,since 9F No.92220Evening
StarwasoutshoppedfromSwindonWorks,
andthe firstbypublicsubscription.Frequentlyheadlined in thepress andon
TV,Tornadowasthe subjectoft he BBC’s
2008 documentaryAbsolutelyChuffed:
TheMen WhoBuilt aSteam Engine and
therealstarofBBC TopGear’sRacetothe
North withJeremy Clarks on on thefootplate
whichfirst airedin2009.Tornadoreceived
worldwidepublicity forthe Plandampf-style
trains markingthe reopeningofthe Settle
andCarlislelineinFebruar y2017and its
101mphtestrun on theEastCoast Main Line
on April 12,2017.
As reported in issue228,onthe returnleg
from NewcastleCentral to Doncasterona
90mphproving run,Tornadohit101mph
betweenRaskelf andAlneonthe approach
to York.Accordingly, it becamethe first
UK steamlocomotivetoreach 100mph
for50years andthe subjectofasecond
BBCdocumentary,Tornado–the 100mph
SteamEngine. More re cently,Tornadohad a
starringrole in thehit moviePaddington 2,
earningitmoreadulation worldwide.
Thecoreplanofthe success of both
projects hasbeenits abilitytoturnnew-
builddreamsintoreality throughits ultra-
prof essional fundraisingand marketing
campaigns. In thecaseofthe P2,fundraising
hasmaderapidprogress withover 930
supporters alreadysigneduptothe ‘P2for
theprice of apintofbeerper week’(£2.5078 Heritagerailway.co.uk