No. 60163 Tornado has been out of traffic since January 2022. During these months away from the rails, extensive work has been carried out at Darlington Locomotive Works, the home of the Trust, and at Locomotive Maintenance Services in Loughborough. Every part of the locomotive has been meticulously cleaned, painted and repaired as required.
This has included:
- Boiler work - complete and boiler delivered back to Darlington. Watch the video above to see the work involved for the boiler to pass its steam test!
- New tyres for driving wheels and the tender - complete, returned and wheels painted.
- Machining and fitting of new cylinder liners - complete.
- Preparation for fitment of European Train Control System - substancial progress made.
- Plus many other component overhaul, repairs and replacement.
It hasn't been plain sailing and we have needed to overcome numerous obstacles and set backs which have inevitably made the process longer, and consequently more expensive, than initially anticipated. Our News pages hold the details of these set backs.
As we look towards Autumn 2023 however, the end is in sight and we look forward to seeing Tornado back in steam. However the extent of the work undertaken, combined with the time out of traffic and therefore unable to earn, has significantly diminished our financial reserves, we therefore ask for your generosity to help us replenish our funds.
Did you know....? October 2021 marked Tornado no longer being the ‘youngest’ A1, as the locomotive overtakes No.60153 Flamboyant for time in traffic. As the engine gets older it will inevitably require more frequent attention from our Maintenance Engineers. We hope that our supporters will recognise this and consider increasing their monthly Covenants, one off donations and bequeaths to ensure that Tornado continues to make history on the mainline.
Click here to discover more ways to support No.60163.