At first glance, the picture above looks like one of those evocative black & white images of the final years of British standard gauge steam in the 1960s. In actual fact, it was taken at Chelsfield, Kent on 6th October 2012. There are one or two giveaways - the modern style of station light and (for the more knowledgeable) the number on the front of the engine: you won't find 60163 Tornado in the old ABC spotters' books. It wasn't completed until 2008.
I have a great admiration for the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust who built this fine engine. The genesis of the project can be traced to a conversation among a group of enthusiasts in a pub in Newcastle, who lamented that none of Arthur Peppercorn's A1 Class had survived into preservation. Someone asked, "why not
build one from scratch?" It seemed hugely ambitious - even crazy - at the time, but they persevered, with the result that you can see above. It took 18 years and £3,000,000 to complete, and the organisation's excellent publicity machine ensured the world's press were all present when Tornado first turned its 6'8" driving wheels at Darlington four and a half years ago. It also has a most efficient sales team, which does a good job in raising funds to keep the engine in working order.
A particuarly daft example of British eccentricity? Some may see it this way. After all, why go to the trouble of building a locomotive that epitomises the outdated technology of 60 years ago and which does not fit in easily onto a modern railway network? I would rather see it as an example of that British entrepreneurial spirit. It is over 60 years since the first privately-operated "heritage" railway, the Tal-y-llyn Railway, began operation in Wales. Such lines have since sprung up all over the country, and the larger railways make a signficant impact on the economy of their localities - ask the shopkeepers in Minehead, Bewdley or Goathland.
However, the engines that operate these lines are a lot older than they were when BR withdrew the last standard gauge steam locos in 1968, so are the coaches, the signalling and so on. None of this has deterred the members of these lines. New parts can and have be manfactured - even big items like boilers and wheelsets. For those groups who seek to run their locomotives on the national rail network, there have been all manner of new regulations ot comply with, such as the installation of TPWS - Train Protection and Warning Sysytem - a form of automatic train control that was only introduced in 1999, in the wake of the accidents at Southall and Ladbroke Grove, and which signficaintly reduces the chance of passing a signal at danger. Engineers from the loco owning groups have shown great ingenuity in fitting this modern electronic gadgetry into these venerable machines. Tornado, which besides being built from sctach, contains all this high-tech gubbins, therefore makes a fantastic advertisement for the can-do attitude of the whole heritage railway movement. It may be a symbol of a past age, but it is also a powerful reminder that the spirit of enterprise which has characterised Britain since the 18th century, if not earlier, has not been snuffed out by socialist statist paternalism.
I have a great admiration for the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust who built this fine engine. The genesis of the project can be traced to a conversation among a group of enthusiasts in a pub in Newcastle, who lamented that none of Arthur Peppercorn's A1 Class had survived into preservation. Someone asked, "why not
build one from scratch?" It seemed hugely ambitious - even crazy - at the time, but they persevered, with the result that you can see above. It took 18 years and £3,000,000 to complete, and the organisation's excellent publicity machine ensured the world's press were all present when Tornado first turned its 6'8" driving wheels at Darlington four and a half years ago. It also has a most efficient sales team, which does a good job in raising funds to keep the engine in working order.
A particuarly daft example of British eccentricity? Some may see it this way. After all, why go to the trouble of building a locomotive that epitomises the outdated technology of 60 years ago and which does not fit in easily onto a modern railway network? I would rather see it as an example of that British entrepreneurial spirit. It is over 60 years since the first privately-operated "heritage" railway, the Tal-y-llyn Railway, began operation in Wales. Such lines have since sprung up all over the country, and the larger railways make a signficant impact on the economy of their localities - ask the shopkeepers in Minehead, Bewdley or Goathland.
However, the engines that operate these lines are a lot older than they were when BR withdrew the last standard gauge steam locos in 1968, so are the coaches, the signalling and so on. None of this has deterred the members of these lines. New parts can and have be manfactured - even big items like boilers and wheelsets. For those groups who seek to run their locomotives on the national rail network, there have been all manner of new regulations ot comply with, such as the installation of TPWS - Train Protection and Warning Sysytem - a form of automatic train control that was only introduced in 1999, in the wake of the accidents at Southall and Ladbroke Grove, and which signficaintly reduces the chance of passing a signal at danger. Engineers from the loco owning groups have shown great ingenuity in fitting this modern electronic gadgetry into these venerable machines. Tornado, which besides being built from sctach, contains all this high-tech gubbins, therefore makes a fantastic advertisement for the can-do attitude of the whole heritage railway movement. It may be a symbol of a past age, but it is also a powerful reminder that the spirit of enterprise which has characterised Britain since the 18th century, if not earlier, has not been snuffed out by socialist statist paternalism.