A1 Peppercorn Pacific No 60163 'Tornado' built in 2008 has been out of traffic for a couple of years for a major overhaul. Now it's ready for steam again and the trust who look after it tell us what they've done and what their plans are.
Very splendid to see my favourite engine “Tornado” at the Great Central Railway again, it will be really nice to see the A1 Pacific doing weekend passenger runs, hopefully also another East Coast gala weekend and to see her doing mainline railtours. Well done everyone at the A1 Locomotive Trust, you really make 21st century steam come true!
Great to see her close to operating on the mainline again! Tornado is my #1 favorite British steam locomotive, following behind is the Flying Scotsman.
Thanks for the update and another excellent video Tom. Hopefully, there will be a further opportunity to see it running during the weekend 1st/2nd June before it returns to the main line.
Thanks for update, let's hope no more surprises show up, this has been a very protracted overhaul, let's do Mr Elliott proud and have his master piece back where he intended
Great to see Tornado will soon be running again She looks like just being the first in the world to have computer technology. I saw a video of 4014 Big Boy today 24/05/24 who is also now fitted with an onboard signalling system so there no need to drag a diesel around.
Although Up has said that they will still have one for breaking as they have dynamic breaks and it causes less wear on the steam engine's break shoes. It's the same reason why CP 2816 has two diesels behind her even though she also has PTC equipment on board.
@@ThomasJM OK So if like here people will still be saying the diesel is pushing the steam loco. We do not use dynamic braking but need a diesel to provide electrical power for heating or air con. I see Big Boy has had an extra steam generator fitted for the PTC equipment. Looks like we will both still be seeing diesels on our steam hauled trains although for different reasons
@@cedarcam it depends on the situation, for example with Union Pacific they are using a fright locomotive which isn't equipped for head end power for passenger equipment, which is why one of the cars in the train is a generator for that reason. In the case of CP 2816 the two diesels are old f units that are used primarily for their office train and there is also a dedicated power car in the consist as well.
Thanks for the update Tom , impressive to say the least , I only hope with the computer system on board signalling there is a plan b , we know these days there's no plan b with computers to manually control vehicles and ships to that matter ,
yea steam is a manual linkage control typicaly, though they just fitted the up big boy with ptc so it can run without a diesle to power the computer controlled safety devices, a complete digital control on non stationary steam I dont know i am sure you have a few backups
2:30 The first locomotive to run at 100MPH since the 1960s? Somehow I doubt that. I think it should be first STEAM Locomotive to run at 100MPH since the 1960s. Pretty sure non-steam locomotives regularly run at over 100MPH.
Its explained in the video. Finding issues ie wear on parts that needs addressing. Fitting ECTS was complex due to all the sensors electronics and wiring that need fitting.
The ECTS install was like Space Shuttle technology, and it’s a world first. Also it got wheel flats from a skid, the new tyres cost a fortune. For some reason the wheels fouled the firebox after reassembly. Steam locos are not bulletproof, they are engineering exotica, with extreme high maintenance. Read servicing reports on Nigel Gresley or NELPG websites to see how everything goes wrong all the time.
It hasn't, all steam locos under BR had regular heavy overhaul, this and availability in service made steam very expensive to maintain compared to diesel and electric traction. It is a credit to the heritage railway movement and the small engineering sector in the UK that we can still make and maintain new build locomotives when the skills required to do so are no longer in general use.
Abseloutely fuming, i payed over 70 pounds to take my family on tornado this Sunday at nene valley (26th may) and having no sort of communication from the railway, i found out on google its no where near Peterborough!
My fullest admiration for those putting in the dedicated work to keep this high speed steam locomotive flying. Steam locomotives always did need a lot of work & this locomotive is no exception.
What a shame that it's equipped with ETCS. It's crap and it totally takes away 2 things: the drivers experienced-based disicion making and the countries own signal-system identity. Lateral signals will soon be heritage.
