A1 60163 Tornado
Peppercorn A1
60163 Tornado
Built 2008, Darlington
No members of the 49 strong A1 class, designed by Arthur H Peppercorn for the London & North Eastern Railway and built by 1948/49 by British Railways survived into preservation. After 18 years of construction and fundraising the £3 million locomotive was completed in August 2008, the first main line steam locomotive to be built for the UK since 1961.
The locomotive was named by HRH The Prince of Wales Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall at York station on 19th February 2009. The locomotive was named in honour of the crews who flew RAF Tornado fast jets during the first Gulf War in 1990/91.
We take a look at the locomotive between 2009 and 2021 both on main line and on preserved railway visits. We see the locomotive in its four historical livery's carried, Apple Green, BR Blue and BR Green with early and late crests.
We see the locomotive on the Settle to Carlisle line, West Coast Mainline, King Cross station, Liverpool and Manchester Railway, along the Devon seawalls, East Lancashire Railway, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Severn Valley Railway, Llangollen Railway and Didcot Railway Centre.
For more details and to support the locomotive, visit the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust website: https://www.a1steam.com
www.preservedrailway.co.uk
(C) Lee Andrew Davies 2022