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Really chuffed: First full-size British steam locomotive for 50 years fires up
The Evening Standard (U.K.) ^ | August 1, 2008

Posted on 08/01/2008 2:00:11 PM PDT by Stoat

Really chuffed: First full-size British steam locomotive for 50 years fires up

Last updated at 22:25pm on 01.08.08

 

First came the sweet toot of the whistle, then a steady hiss.

Finally, sporting her battleship-grey undercoat, Britain's first new steam locomotive in almost half a century emerged in all her majesty.

It was a sight that took those old enough to remember back to a golden age of rail travel.

Even though Tornado only had 120 yards of track to cover as she chugged into action in a Darlington rail yard, the moment was, with good reason, marked with a rousing round of applause.
 

Magnificent: Steam hissing from her pistons, the Torando takes to the tracks in Darlington

It was, after all, the culmination of an 18-year labour of love and an outlay of £3million. 

 

For all her authenticity, Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific 60163 Tornado  -  to give her her full title  -  is a brand spanking new steam locomotive, built by more than 100 hands out of the fund-raising efforts of thousands of enthusiasts.

She is in almost every way identical to the last passenger steam engines, but with a few modern safety additions.
 

Graeme Bunker puts coal in the firebox onboard the train

In the final days of steam, the A1s  -  designed by Arthur Peppercorn for the London and North Eastern Railway  -  plied their trade until 1966, when the last of their class were scrapped in favour of the diesel engines. Yesterday was 40 years since the fabled 'last weekend' when British Rail ran its final scheduled mainline steam services.

 

The locomotive will be decked out with state-of-the-art electronics

 

But in 1990 a group of enthusiasts decided the A1 would chug again and began to build Tornado from original drawings held at the National Railway Museum in York.

Mark Allatt, chairman of the A1 Trust, was just 25 and could not remember steam travel when he decided to help  -  little realising that he would be using his annual leave from the City law firm where he works to help with the engine he loves.

Tonight he said the idea to build an engine from scratch came from a desire to resurrect an example of the steam locomotive at its peak.
 

 

 

 

The A1 Trust has built Tornado to be fully equipped for use on Britain's main line railways

'Not one was saved,' he added. 'They were the most reliable of their type on the railways, but sadly, with accelerated dieselisation, what should have lasted for 50 years ended up lasting for only 15.'

The project has received almost no public money, instead being funded mostly from 'people's pocket money' and sponsorship.
 

 

 

 

The Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific 60163 Tornado, a replica of the last passenger steam locomotives, prepares for its first test run in Darlington

In 1990, enthusiasts were asked to donate the price of a pint a week, which was then £1.25. 'Some of them have been doing it since 1990, so that's a hell of a lot of pints they haven't drunk,' said Mr Allatt. The work on Tornado is not complete, but yesterday was the loco's first public outing.

Once painted (apple green like the Flying Scotsman), she will be put through her paces and is destined for life on the main line where  -  like the Orient Express  -  she will be run privately and for hire.

 

 

It is the first new main line steam locomotive in Britain for almost 50 years

Capable of topping 100mph, she will at first travel at 70mph with an eventual top speed limit of 90mph. When she takes her first passengers, Mr Allatt is in no doubt 'there won't be a dry eye in the house'. As for her first public run, he said: 'It was phenomenal, so much blood, sweat and tears have gone into the project.'

On board for the landmark trip was Dorothy Mather, Arthur Peppercorn's 92-year-old widow and president of the trust.

She said she was thrilled. 'I was horrified when the whistle went off and I thought I would be deafened, but it was exciting,' she added.
 

The project to build a new Peppercorn class A1 was launched in 1990

'I think it is wonderful. My husband would not have believed it. He would be very proud, very proud.' Steam trains have long sparked the imagination and conjured up dreams of a bygone era.

They have inspired a wealth of writing, including W H Auden's Night Mail 'shovelling white steam over her shoulder'.

As for the volunteers, Mr Allatt summed up the feeling.

'The steam locomotive is the nearest thing Man has ever created to a living thing,' he said. 'You can't turn it on. You can't turn it off. You sort of coax it along and it hisses and it bubbles and it fizzes and that is not like a modern machine.

'A child when they first draw a picture of a train, they never draw diesel, they draw a steam engine. And that is what it is all about.'



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: britain; england; greatbritain; locomotive; rail; railtravel; steam; steamengine; steamtrain; train; transportation; uk; unitedkingdom
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To: Stoat

Bust my buffers, she makes my boiler tingle!
Apologies to Rev. W. V. Awdry.


21 posted on 08/01/2008 3:01:27 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (His Negritude has made his negritude the central theme of this campaign)
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To: Stoat

Bump


22 posted on 08/01/2008 3:04:14 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: Devilinbaggypants

WHAT ABOUT THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF THIS MONSTROSITY!!!!

I’M GOING TO REPORT THIS TO THE UN OR SOMEBODY, AND THEN HAVE A TOFU SANDWICH. THAT IS ALL.


23 posted on 08/01/2008 3:15:45 PM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: Stoat

Idiots.. they put in a comment about the carbon footprint of 90 cars.. bet this thing hauls a few more than 90 people at a time, so it’s a net gain. Math and logic are completely beyond them.

Besides.. it’s alternative energy.. it doesnt use oil, after all.....


24 posted on 08/01/2008 3:27:12 PM PDT by Mr Inviso
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To: Little Pig

(Sorry, can’t resist)

How about a fully animated Thomas the Tank Engine face for the locomotive?

Anyway, I see a lesson in British socialism run amok as early as 1966. Did it not occur to anyone at all at the time that these locomotives would have enduring historical value and that preserving a few of them would be worthwhile?

Is it just because the U.S. is a much bigger nation that so many classic steam locomotives survived here?


25 posted on 08/01/2008 3:30:53 PM PDT by elcid1970 (My cartridges are dipped in pig grease)
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To: Stoat
Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific 60163 Tornado - to give her her
full title - is a brand spanking new steam locomotive,
built by more than 100 hands out of the fund-raising efforts of
thousands of enthusiasts.


Well, I'll give them highest marks for effort, skill and sacrifice.

Maybe 10-20 years ago a small town in Iowa wanted to get a steam
train running on some abandoned track that ran through the town.

Somehow, somebody learned that steam engines that looked just
like the ones of the first-half of the twentieth century were
still being built in mainland China...
so after fund-raising, they went and got their replica steam engine
from China; apparently at lower cost than finding and refurbishing
an authentic example in North America.
26 posted on 08/01/2008 3:40:07 PM PDT by VOA
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To: Stoat
Video
27 posted on 08/01/2008 3:51:48 PM PDT by Nick Danger (www.swiftvets.com)
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To: elcid1970

I dunno, we’ve ridden the life-sized Thomas that comes around every year (my 3yo daughter and I). It’s kinda wierd.

I think the engines survived here mostly because we had so many extra sidings and corners of railyards to hide them in that we just never got around to scrapping all of them before someone decided they should be kept. They were just never in the way the way here they must have been in Britain. Also, we don’t have the limited supplies of ore here like they do over there, so we didn’t have the pressure to reclaim the metal. I’d bet that a lot of those old engines over there are still involved in the rail lines, except that now they’re the rails and spikes.


28 posted on 08/01/2008 5:48:09 PM PDT by Little Pig (Is it time for "Cowboys and Muslims" yet?)
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To: Devilinbaggypants

I have to say, building a new steam engine, even if only for exhibition purposes, is way cool. I’d love to see someone actually front the money to rebuild some of the more important or impressive engines over here. I’d love to see first-hand (along with legions of railfans) why those big articulated engines were known as “gods of iron”. To see an Allegheny 2-6-6-6 pound past at 40mph under load must have been incredible.


29 posted on 08/01/2008 5:55:39 PM PDT by Little Pig (Is it time for "Cowboys and Muslims" yet?)
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To: Little Pig
To see an Allegheny 2-6-6-6 pound past at 40mph under load must have been incredible.

A Rock Island 4-8-4 with a mile-long string of freight cars making 70 mph across the prairie was pretty exciting, too.

30 posted on 08/01/2008 6:11:16 PM PDT by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
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To: okie01; Little Pig; Devilinbaggypants; All
YouTube - Johnny Cash- Rock Island Line
31 posted on 08/01/2008 6:44:12 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Nick Danger

Thank you; just wonderful :-)


32 posted on 08/01/2008 6:45:01 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: elcid1970
Is it just because the U.S. is a much bigger nation that so many classic steam locomotives survived here?

Many survived in Britain also. The National Railway Museum in York has a wonderful collection, and there are dozens more kept running by enthusiasts' groups on short private lines.

33 posted on 08/01/2008 11:48:31 PM PDT by Winniesboy
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To: VOA

As late as 1987 there was a Baldwin locomotive works in China still turning out classic 4-8-4’s. Cheap and abundant coal was one reason.


34 posted on 08/02/2008 1:34:08 AM PDT by elcid1970 (My cartridges are dipped in pig grease)
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To: Stoat

Also a steam train is referred to as a chuffer (chuffa) not sure how it is spelt which refers to the noise is makes.


35 posted on 08/02/2008 4:54:06 AM PDT by snugs ((An English Cheney Chick - Big Time))
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To: Devilinbaggypants
There are many local steam enthusatist in Britain where I live we have a miniature railway and full size one both within 10 miles of me and I have never heard of any objection.
36 posted on 08/02/2008 4:55:42 AM PDT by snugs ((An English Cheney Chick - Big Time))
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To: Little Pig

Yep people should read the article first though maybe you can say back as it is an old design.


37 posted on 08/02/2008 4:56:26 AM PDT by snugs ((An English Cheney Chick - Big Time))
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To: Nailbiter

I have been amazed that we actually got through Parliament recently a new coal fired power station.


38 posted on 08/02/2008 4:57:19 AM PDT by snugs ((An English Cheney Chick - Big Time))
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To: Devilinbaggypants

LOL though in a way you are right it is an old design being bought back to life.


39 posted on 08/02/2008 4:57:54 AM PDT by snugs ((An English Cheney Chick - Big Time))
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To: mountainlion

Our local railway I believe runs throughout the year, I know the miniature one does.


40 posted on 08/02/2008 4:58:29 AM PDT by snugs ((An English Cheney Chick - Big Time))
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