ANNUAL EXPENDITURE ON BUILDING NEW PEPPERCORN CLASS A1 REACHES £¼ MILLION

Enough to restore more than one Barry wreck per year!

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, today announced that its annual expenditure on the construction of No. 60163 Tornado has reached £¼ million for the first time. This is enough to completely restore from scrapyard to mainline condition a similar sized locomotive each year.

David Champion, chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said: “Over the past 30 years the railway preservation movement has achieved many ‘impossible’ dreams – No. 60163 Tornado is simply the next major step forward. However, most railway enthusiasts still do not recognise the step change that differentiates new steam locomotive construction from even the most thorough and complex restorations and overhauls, such as the
re-building of No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester. Tornado will be on its wheels in time for its Annual Convention in October. This will be the first time that a new mainline steam locomotive has been wheeled since the completion of British Railways last steam locomotive in 1960.”

 

The steel tyres have already been fitted to the two 3ft 8in Cartazzi (trailing) wheels by the Trust’s contractor, Ian Riley of Riley & Son (Electromech) Ltd of Bury and tyre turning is now in progress. This will be followed by the four 3ft 2in front bogie wheels.

Performing a similar operation on Tornado’s six 6ft 8in driving wheels is more complicated due to their size. The demise of steam on British Railways over 30 years ago has left few workshops able to machine such large wheels – modern diesel and electric locomotive’s wheels are much smaller. Tornado’s six 6ft 8in driving wheels will therefore have to be moved from Bury to the Severn Valley Railway’s workshops at Bridgnorth for turning, returning to Bury for the tyres to be fitted, before again visiting the SVR for the newly fitted tyres to be turned.

David Elliott, technical director of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, added: “The building of Tornado has meant the rediscovery of many old skills and new applications for the latest technologies. However, the wheeling of Tornado has proved to be the Trust’s most complicated logistics exercise to-date involving specialist suppliers from across the UK and one in Belgium. 40 years ago all of these processes could have been carried out under one roof at the then
Darlington Works where 23/26 of the original A1s were built.”

Before the wheels are fitted to Tornado, each of the locomotive’s six wheelsets have to be equipped with roller bearings. This involves the fitting of 42 different spacer, abutment and adjustment rings, cannon boxes machined by Ufone and 64 manganese steel liners from Aurora Metals of Sheffield.

Annual Convention – The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s 6th Annual Convention will take place at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington on Saturday 9 October 1999. The centrepiece of the day will be the unveiling of the wheeled locomotive chassis at Darlington Locomotive Works for the first time. This will be preceded by a progress update by the Trust’s board of directors.

Tornado on TV – The project to build Tornado was featured on BBC2’s One Foot in the Past programme on the
future of steam due to be shown on the evening of Saturday 29th May 1999. The programme showed Tornado under construction at Darlington Locomotive Works and featured a number of the Trust’s volunteers. This programme has resulted in a significant number of enquiries to the Trust.

Engineering Update – As well as work on the wheelsets, considerable progress continues to be made on other aspects of the locomotive’s construction:

• Motion: the first batch of motion components – the upper slide bars and the right hand reversing arm – have been sent to Ufone for machining. They are due for delivery to Darlington in August and are still available as Dedicated Covenants (see below). The patterns have been ordered for the piston crossheads, three spindle crosshead guides and the cylinder covers.
• Bogie: the bogies bottom centre, end stretchers and crosshead castings have also been dispatched to Ufone for machining. They are also due in Darlington in August.
• Boiler: the most complicated pattern needed for the construction of Tornado has been ordered from Kingsheath Patterns of Kingswinford. The pattern for the superheater header will cost around £9,000. The blast pipe and chimney patterns are with Charles W Taylor for casting with the remaining steam pipe patterns to be delivered to them in July.

Dedicated Covenants – The Trust’s Dedicated Covenant scheme continues to be highly successful, with existing
Covenantors having already funded most of the items so far made available. The latest batch of motion components are:

• Upper slide bars: an additional covenant of £8.33 per month, or a donation of £500, is needed for each of three of these vital motion components.
• Union links: an additional covenant of £5 per month, or a donation of £300, is needed to fund each of three of these motion parts.
• Outside eccentric rod: an additional covenant of £10 per month, or a donation of £600 is needed for the purchase each of two of these very visible parts of the locomotive.
• Right hand reversing arm:  an additional covenant of £5 per month, or a donation of £300 is needed to complete this part.

NEW STEAM LOCO ON WHEELS BY AUTUMN

Smokebox nearing completion in Darlington Locomotive Works. Two tenders and 90mph running for Tornado.

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, today announced that No. 60163 Tornado will be on its wheels by the Autumn. This will be the first time that a new mainline steam locomotive has been wheeled since the completion of British Railways last steam locomotive in 1960. This part of the £1.6 million project will have cost around £150,000.

The trial fitting of the wheels to Tornado will be the culmination of the most complicated logistics exercise yet undertaken by the Trust. The fitting of the 12 wheels to their axles will be completed during September. The steel tyres have already been fitted to the two 3ft 8in Cartazzi (trailing) wheels by the Trust’s contractor, Ian Riley of Riley & Son (Electromech) Ltd of Bury and the tyres have been turned to their final profile. This will be followed by the four 3ft 2in front bogie wheels.

Performing a similar operation on Tornado’s six 6ft 8in driving wheels is more complicated due to their size. The demise of steam on British Railways over 30 years ago has left few workshops able to machine such large wheels – modern diesel and electric locomotive’s wheels are much smaller. Tornado’s six 6ft 8in driving wheels will therefore have to be moved from Bury to the Severn Valley Railway’s workshops at Bridgnorth for turning, going back to Bury for the tyres to be fitted, before again visiting the SVR for the newly fitted tyres to be turned.

David Elliott, technical director of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, added: “The building of Tornado has meant the rediscovery of many old skills and new applications for the latest technologies. However, the wheeling of Tornado has proved to be the Trust’s most complicated logistics exercise to-date involving specialist suppliers from across the UK and one in Belgium. 40 years ago all of these processes could have been carried out under one roof at the then
Darlington Works where 23 of the original A1s were built.”

Before the wheels are test fitted to Tornado, five of the locomotive’s six wheelsets will have had their roller bearings fitted. The 46 different spacer, abutment, sealing and adjustment rings for the 12 Timken taper roller bearings have to be manufactured and located on the driving and bogie axles before the wheels are pressed on. The leading driving wheelset has a total of four roller bearings in two individual axle boxes. This is necessitated by the crank for the middle of the three cylinders. The remaining two driving and bogie wheelsets have two roller bearings each which are each housed in a cannon box of a tubular construction that encases the axle across the width of the frames.

The cannon and axle boxes which were cast in steel by Wm Cook Cast Products at Burton on Trent and have been machined by Ufone Precision Engineers at Rowley Regis, West Midlands. This work has also involved welding a total of 96 pieces of highly wear resistant manganese steel to the guides in the cannon boxes which slide up and down in the horn blocks. The manganese steel liners were supplied by Aurora Metals of Sheffield. The trailing truck (cartazzi)
wheelset has outside roller bearings enabling the bearings and axle boxes to be fitted after the wheels have been pressed on to the axle.

Second Tender and 90mph running– The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has decided that No.60163 Tornado will have a second new LNER eight wheel tender to carry additional water capacity, enabling the completed locomotive
to run for over 250 miles non-stop when required.

The second tender, which will be constructed at the same time as the standard tender, will have a water capacity of around 9,250 gallons. The standard tender, which will have a coal space into which the oil tank will be fitted when Tornado is running in oil-fired mode, has been redesigned without a water scoop and higher back space to increase water capacity to around 6,250 gallons.

Both tender tanks will be constructed in stainless steel and contracts are due to be let in the next couple of weeks.

The Trust has also decided to seek 90mph approval for Tornado when completed, up from the maximum of 75mph for existing, old steam locomotives on Railtrack.

David Champion, chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, added: “The additional tender and the decision to go for 90mph approval are both part of our policy of equipping Tornado for tomorrow’s railway. With a second tender and over 15,000 gallons of water, Tornado will be able to run from King’s Cross to Darlington non-stop. This, combined with a 90mph approval, will be a better fit with the other traffic on today’s mainlines.”

Further Engineering Update – As well as work on the wheelsets, considerable progress continues to be made on other aspects of the locomotive’s construction:

• Motion: the first batch of motion components – the slide bars and several parts for the reversing mechanism – have been forged by Heskeths at Bury and sent to Ufone for machining. They are due for delivery to Darlington in September and a few are still available as Dedicated Covenants. The patterns have been ordered for the piston crossheads, valve spindle crosshead guides and the cylinder covers.
• Bogie: the bogie bottom centre, end stretchers and crosshead castings have also been dispatched to Ufone for machining. They are also due in Darlington in August.
• Boiler: the most complex pattern needed for the construction of Tornado has been ordered from Kings Heath Patterns of Birmingham, who produced the patterns for Tornado’s three cylinders. The pattern for the superheater header will cost around £9,000 and it will be cast in SG Iron.
• Smokebox: the shell of the smokebox is now approaching completion, with the smokebox door, door fittings and  ring (built by Ian Howitt at Crofton near Wakefield) have been assembled in Darlington Locomotive Works in readiness for fitting to Tornado. The chimney, chimney liner and blastpipe have been cast by Charles W Taylor at North Eastern Foundry, South Shields through a very generous sponsorship arrangement.

Annual Convention – The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s 6th Annual Convention will take place at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington on Saturday 23rd October 1999. The day will commence with a progress update by the Trust’s board of directors, followed by a visit by several hundred covenantors to Darlington Locomotive Works to inspect progress on Tornado during the past year.

Tornado on TV – The project to build Tornado was featured on BBC2’s One Foot in the Past programme on the
future of steam broadcast on the evening of Saturday 29th May 1999. The programme showed Tornado under construction at Darlington Locomotive Works and featured a number of the Trust’s management team. This programme has resulted in a significant number of enquiries to the Trust.

FIRST WHEELS ON AXLES OF NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

Rape seed oil from Tesco’s put to a novel use

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, is making novel use of rape seed oil from Tesco’s. The oil, more usually found in the average kitchen, is being used by the Trust’s contractor, Ian Riley of Riley & Son (Electromech) Ltd of Bury to enable Tornado’s six 6ft 8in driving wheels, four 3ft 2in front bogie wheels and two 3ft 8in Cartazzi (trailing) wheels to be pressed onto their axles.

Today, railway wheels are fitted the their axles by heating the wheels so that they expand and then shrink-fitting them to their axles. Due to the roller bearings having to be fitted to Tornado’s axles before the wheels, the Trust has reverted to the traditional method of pressing on the wheels to avoid the hot wheel damaging the bearing. Tests conducted on behalf of the Trust have shown that an initial interference of 0.00025 per inch of diameter, a taper on the axle of 1 in 500 and lubrication courtesy of rape seed oil from Tesco’s should see the required 10 to 12 tons per
inch diameter of pressing force.

David Elliott, technical director of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, added, “The building of Tornado has meant the rediscovery of old skills and new applications for the latest technology but this is the first time since the project was launched in 1990 that the contents of the average kitchen have been used in the construction of Tornado. When it comes to the force needed to press these large wheels onto their axles, I suppose ‘every little helps’.”

The Cartazzi wheels have already been fitted to their axle, with the bogie wheels due to be completed by early May and the driving wheels by the end of June.

Dedicated Covenants

The Trust’s Dedicated Covenant scheme continues to be highly successful, with existing Covenantors having already funded most of the items so far made available. The latest batch of motion components are:

• Upper slide bars: an additional covenant of £8.33 per month, or a donation of £500, is needed for each of three of these vital motion components.
• Union links: an additional covenant of £5 per month, or a donation of £300, is needed to fund each of three of these motion parts.
• Outside eccentric rod: an additional covenant of £10 per month, or a donation of £600 is needed for the purchase each of two of these very visible parts of the locomotive.
• Right hand reversing arm:  an additional covenant of £5 per month, or a donation of £300 is needed to complete this part.

New Prospectus Published

The Trust has just published the latest edition (version 12) of it’s Prospectus which provides detailed information on The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and its project to build the new Peppercorn class A1 60163 Tornado. This fully illustrated document, produced for potential individual covenantors and industrial sponsors, is now available from the A1 Trust’s hotline on 01325 4 60163.

Tornado on TV

The project to build Tornado will feature on BBC2’s One Foot in the Past programme on the future of steam due to be shown on the evening of Saturday 22rd May 1999. The programme will show Tornado under construction at Darlington Locomotive Works and features a number of the Trust’s volunteers.

A1 TRUST ORDERS FIRST MOTION COMPONENTS FOR NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, today announced that it had placed orders for the first motion components for Tornado with John Hesketh & Son Ltd of Bury. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is raising £1.6m to build a new Peppercorn class A1 No. 60163 Tornado at its Darlington Locomotive Works through Deeds of Covenant for ‘the price of a pint of beer a week’.

This first tranche of forgings include the slide bars and several parts of the reversing gear for the locomotive’s three sets of Walschaerts motion. These components will be delivered in June and will then require extensive machining before they can be assembled and fitted to the locomotive.

David Champion, chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented, “The order of the first parts of the motion means that work is now being done on every major section of Tornado remaining to be completed. Over the coming months orders will be placed for all of the remaining motion components, many of which are still available as dedicated covenants for supporters to fund.”

Since each batch of motion parts will require a tensile test to be conducted on a sample cut from one of the forgings, the Trust intends to order all the components from a particular material at the same time.

Sponsorship

Nickerson Fuel Oils (a division of Total Oil) has generously offered to supply lubricants to the Trust, starting with a quantity of machine oil for use in the machine tools at Darlington Locomotive Works. The next delivery will be several drums of grease to pack the roller bearing axle boxes for the locomotive. Additionally, specialist technical support for lubricants suitable for steam locomotive operation has been offered.

Construction Update

Work to enable Tornado to be wheeled continues. It is the first time that this very specialist and expensive job has been done on a brand new mainline steam locomotive since the completion of British Railway’s last steam locomotive in 1960.

A1 TRUST LAUNCHES AWARD SCHEME AND NEW COVENANTS TO DOUBLE GROWTH RATE  

Major advances at Darlington Locomotive Works

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, has launched an Awards Scheme to double its rate of growth in covenanted income from 15% to 30% growth next year. In addition the Trust launched an further range of covenants for young people, companies and for those wishing to contribute to the project after their death.

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is raising £1.6m to build a new Peppercorn class A1 No. 60163 Tornado at its Darlington Locomotive Works through Deeds of Covenant for ‘the price of a pint of beer a week’ (£1.25 in the North East when the project was launched in 1990). Although Tornado is around 50% complete by weight, if the Trust cannot raise another £700,000 quickly it could be up to another 4 years until the new steam locomotive can be completed at current rates of growth in income.

 

50th BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR SCRAPPED SISTERS OF NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

Significant progress on wheeling Tornado

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the completion of the first Darlington Works built example of the same type – Peppercorn class A1 No. 60130 Kestrel – in September 1948 with a party for some of the railwaymen who built it. The first Peppercorn A1 was completed the previous month at Doncaster Works.

The party, to be hosted jointly with Darlington Council, is being held in the new Darlington Locomotive Works on Tuesday 8th September 1998 at 19:00hrs , where a new Peppercorn class A1 No. 60163 Tornado is currently being built. Present will be David Champion, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and Vice President Mrs Dorothy Mather, whose late husband Arthur Peppercorn was the A1’s designer.

David Champion, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented, “September 1998 marks the 50th anniversary of the completion of the first Darlington-built Peppercorn class A1. The Trust, which is aiming to complete the 50th member of this lost class of steam locomotive, is celebrating this anniversary with some of the class’s original builders and the designer’s widow. We are still actively seeking additional sponsors and covenantors to enable the locomotive to be completed by 2000.”

Work on the Wheelsets continues apace

Work to enable Tornado to be wheeled by Christmas continues as fast as funds will allow. It is
the first time that this very specialist and expensive job has been done since the completion of
British Railway’s last steam locomotive in 1960.

ROLLS-ROYCE TO SPONSOR NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE NAMED TORNADO

Smokebox delivered to Works

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, today announced that Rolls-Royce plc has joined its growing list of sponsor-partners. The Trust is raising £1.6 million to build a new ex-LNER Peppercorn Class A1 No. 60163  Tornado, named after the RAF fighter-bombers used in the 1990/91 Gulf War. Coincidentally, Rolls-Royce builds the RB199 jet engines that power the Tornado jet.

Rolls-Royce will be helping the Trust by machining parts of the new locomotive’s three sets of motion at its Hebburn works. The motion is the metal rods that connect the locomotive’s three cylinders to its six 6’8” driving wheels. The Trust estimates that when completed, Tornado’s motion will have cost around £190,000 at full commercial rates.

In addition, Rolls-Royce will be seconding a graduate trainee to the Trust to develop an apprentice training programme for implementation jointly with the Darlington Partnerships at the Trust’s ‘Darlington Locomotive Works’. Rolls-Royce will also be donating surplus machinery to the Trust for use in the Works.

Philip Clifton, Operations Director of Rolls-Royce Transmission and Distribution, commented, “We are delighted to be able to support such an ambitious project as that to build a new steam locomotive in the 1990s. Like Rolls-Royce, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust prides itself on being the Best of British Engineering. We are pleased to be able to help the Trust with its machining requirements and to help train the engineers of the future in the North East. We look forward to working with the Trust over the coming years.”

David Champion, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, added, “Rolls-Royce is recognised as the cream of engineering in the North East. The Trust couldn’t wish for a better sponsor-partner to work with on the machining of Tornado’s motion and the development of the Works’ apprentice training programme. We are actively seeking additional sponsors and covenantors to enable the locomotive to be completed by 2000.”

Smokebox Delivered to Works

The smokebox barrel of the new steam locomotive, the first part of its boiler, was delivered to Darlington Locomotive Works on Tuesday 24th March 1998 for fitting to the locomotive’s frames. The smokebox door is currently being manufactured by pioneer covenantor Ian Howitt. The door’s fittings were paid for through the Trust’s dedicated covenants scheme.

Dedicated Covenanting Scheme Launched by A1 Project

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, has launched a new financing scheme, ‘Dedicated Covenants’, which will enable supporters of the A1 Project to fund the construction of individual components of Peppercorn class A1
No 60163 Tornado.

Dedicated Covenants are only available to individuals and groups of supporters who have already each taken out a general covenant of £5 per month, the price of a pint of beer a week in the North East when the project was launched in 1990.

Dedicated Covenantors will: have their names inscribed on the official roll of honour at Darlington detailing the components sponsored; be presented with a framed certificate recording the sponsorship, photograph of the component and copy of the drawing at the Annual Convention following its manufacture; and wherever possible have their name stamped on the component.

Commenting on the announcement, Mark Allatt, Marketing Director of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said, “This major fund-raising initiative is a unique opportunity for people to have their name on a component of a brand new mainline steam locomotive. The funds will help to ensure that Tornado will be completed within the next three years.”

Dedicated Covenanting packages will range from single covenants to those of six or more, ideal for local groups of supporters or clubs or industry to sponsor.

Mark Allatt continued, “I urge all supporters of the Trust who want to see Tornado completed quickly to subscribe to this new Dedicated Covenanting scheme and have the satisfaction of pointing to the part of the locomotive they paid for when the locomotive enters service.”

The scheme was first trialled in the Trust’s quarterly journal, The Pioneer, and was twice oversubscribed within days of its publication. This first batch consisted:

• patterns for spring guide, bottom wedge, valve head and inside reversing shaft. (one covenant or a £300 donation)
• patterns for reversing shaft bracket, bogie side rubbing block, steam brake cylinder & cover and spring eyebolt bracket.(one covenant or a £300 donation)
• patterns for brake shaft bracket and cartazzi hornblocks.(two covenants or a £600 donation)
• locomotive cab. (six covenants or a £1,800 donation)
• Components now available for sponsorship include:
• driving wheel splashers. (one covenant or a £300 donation for each of six)
• crank axle roller bearings. (four covenants or a £1,200 donation for each of four)
• intermediate axle roller bearings. (eight covenants or a £2,400 donation for each of two)
• trailing axle roller bearings. (eight covenants or a £2,400 donation for each of two)
• bogie axle roller bearings.(two covenants or a £600 donation for each of four)
• cartazzi roller bearings. (three covenants or a £900 donation for each of four)
• top slide bar forgings. (three covenants or a £900 donation for each of three)
• bottom slide bar forgings. (two covenants or a £600 donation for each of two)

Further new components available for sponsorship will be published in each issue of The Pioneer and in the railway press.

Annual Convention Overwhelming Success

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years, has been awarded grants totalling £300,000 for phase one of the conversion of the 1853 former Stockton & Darlington Railway Hopetown Carriage Works into the new ‘Darlington Steam Locomotive Works’. The grants have been awarded to Darlington Borough Council on behalf of the Trust by the European Regional Development Fund (£150,000), National Heritage Memorial Fund (£100,000) and the Council itself
(£50,000).

Phase one comprises the restoration of the south wing of the former Carriage Works, including repairs to the roof and walls, replacement windows, lowering of the floor and installation of pits and securing the site. Tenders for the work are due to be let in December 1996 with completion of phase one due by May 1997.

Commenting on the announcement, David Champion, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said, “The award of these grants towards phase one of the new ‘Darlington Steam Locomotive Works’ is a major step forward in the Trust’s establishment of its permanent base in Darlington and the re-birth of Darlington Works 30 years after
its closure. These grants will be used to restore and convert the building and are not for the construction of Peppercorn class A1 No. 60163 Tornado. We are still actively seeking new Covenantors and sponsors to speed the construction of the new locomotive.”

Tornado will be a completely new steam locomotive, built from the original 1940s drawings and is therefore neither a restoration project nor a replica, but the next in the original series, the 50th Peppercorn Class A1.

Annual Convention

The Trust held its third Annual Convention at the Georgian Central Hall in Darlington on Saturday 21st September. Over 200 Covenantors, Sponsors and supporters attended the meeting, hearing updates on the project’s progress from the Trust’s directors and project managers as well as the announcement of the grant funding. The Convention was followed by a visit to the Timothy Hackworth Museum, Shildon on the Saturday afternoon and the South Tynedale Railway on the Sunday.

Locomotive Works Acquires Diesel Shunter

The Trust has been given on long-term loan a 311HP 0-6-0 Hunslet Gamma Diesel Shunter by the Tanfield Railway (TR). The locomotive was built in Leeds in 1965 and was delivered to the North Durham Area of the National Coal Board where it worked for the next 30 years. On withdrawal from service in 1993 it was donated to the TR. Too heavy for use on the Tanfield Railway, the shunter was coincidentally originally ordered for the NCB by Dennis Champion, father of David Champion, chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust.

The locomotive, which is in working order, will be returned to its original two-tone ‘North Eastern Railway’ green livery by Trust volunteers over the winter and will be moved to the new ‘Darlington Steam Locomotive Works’ during early 1997.

Construction Update

Construction of Tornado’s frames continues to move forward at Tyseley Locomotive Works (TLW), Birmingham.

• a selection of patterns, including those for some of the smaller components required to complete the frames, have been delivered by Coxill Patterns to TLW where tenders are being issued for their casting and machining.
• all three cylinders are now with Ufone Engineering for machining, with the middle cylinder currently being worked on. All three should be returned to the Trust by early 1997 for fitting to the frames.
• the locomotive’s six 6’8″ driving wheels have arrived at TLW from Lloyds of Burton-upon-Trent and are awaiting machining and assembly.

NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE ‘TORNADO’ NOW 45% COMPLETE

PLANNING PERMISSION GRANTED FOR DARLINGTON STEAM LOCOMOTIVE WORKS

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

NEW SPONSOR SUPPLYING PAINTS

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, which is building the first new mainline steam locomotive to be built in Britain since 1960, today announced that the locomotive is now 45% complete by weight – 38 tons out of an estimated 85 tons for the completed locomotive (excluding tender) – although many components still need significant work doing to them. The project has made significant progress over the past year, with the casting of six 6′ 8″ driving wheels, the casting of the middle of the three cylinders (the outside pair will be cast shortly) and significant work to the locomotive’s main frames.

David Champion, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented, “With the casting of the two outside cylinders now imminent, the new Peppercorn Class A1 No. 60163 Tornado is now visibly taking shape before us and is now 45% complete by weight. There is now no doubt that Tornado will be completed – ‘when’ depends solely upon the rate at which the Trust’s income continues to increase and it is our aim to double our number of Covenantors over the coming year.”

DARLINGTON PLANNING PERMISSION GRANTED

The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has been granted planning permission by Darlington Borough Council to convert the former Stockton & Darlington Railway Hopetown Carriage Works into the new ‘Darlington Steam Locomotive Works’, where the final erection of No. 60163 Tornado will take place. The Trust has already established its
administrative office in the Darlington Railway Centre & Museum at the town’s North Road Station opposite the new Works.

Stuart Palmer, Solicitor to The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and Chairman of its Darlington Working Committee, said, “We are obviously delighted to have been granted planning permission for the new ‘Darlington Steam Locomotive Works’ – another major milestone for the Trust. We are now working with Darlington Borough Council, Darlington Business Venture and local businesses to put in place the necessary funding to convert the Carriage
Works into a steam locomotive construction and maintenance workshop.”

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Work on the locomotive’s main frames continues to progress rapidly at Tyseley Locomotive Works (TLW), Birmingham:

• A recent delivery of round and hexagonal steel bars from long-term sponsor Macreadys is being put to a variety of uses in the manufacture of fitted bolts for the star stay, drag box, hornblocks, hornstays and rear frames.
• Lloyds of Burton-upon-Trent has completed the casting of the drag box, bogie bottom centre and inside motion plate, with the former now at Brookside Engineering, Tutbury for machining.
• a considerable number of frame stretchers and other components, including the spring hanger brackets, front and rear firebox support brackets, bogie top centre and bogie frame stays have been dispatched to Brookside Engineering, Tutbury for machining and many have already been completed and returned to TLW.
• the star stay, manufactured by Mercia Fabrications of Dudley, has been machined by Ufone Engineering of Rowley Regis and returned to Tyseley where it has been fitted to the frames. Mercia have delivered further fabrications including the footplate supports and engine steps which are now in position on the frames.
• TLW staff have fitted the hornblocks and hornstays, firebox support bracket (back and front), rear side rubbing plates and cross stay to the mainframes and completed the bufferbeam and gussets.
• TM Engineers of Kingswinford, Dudley has welded the stiffeners to the bogie frame plates, stress relieved and fully machined them. They have been returned to TLW and are awaiting the delivery of the bogie frame stays and bottom centre before the assembly of the bogie can commence.
• the initial platework of the cab floor is under manufacture.
• In addition, British Steel Engineering of Renishaw has started production process of the outside pair of cylinder castings and Lloyds has started the process to cast the rear truck and front bogie wheels.

NEW SPONSOR SUPPLYING PAINT

A new company to our growing list of sponsor partners who are playing such a vital role in Tornado’s construction. We are now seeking sponsors to help with the forging and machining of the motion and the construction of the boiler so that we can put the paint to an early use.”