The LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado
Similar to assembling a Cadillac car with a brand chassis and body, the 60163 Tornado is a steam locomotive built in the modern age but inspired by the classics.
Why is it called Tornado? With respects to the sponsor who gave £50,000, it was given the privilege to choose the locomotive’s name. Since the war against Saddam’s Iraq had just been won by the coalition which included the Royal Air Force, it was decided to provide the locomotive a name honoring the RAF pilots who flew the Tornado fighter aircraft. Therefore, the name “Tornado.”
The Royal Air Force themselves had given the builders of the 60163 Tornado the nameplates bearing the name “Tornado” during the frame laying ceremony in January 1995.
The 60163 Tornado is actually a plan targeted to re-establish classic trains and treasure their heritage. A trust foundation known as A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and its subsidiary, Locomotive Construction Co., organised and built the Tornado as part of the locomotive heritage movement.
The Tornado is a concept combining classic engineering and modern ingenuity and it’s a verification to how vintage objects become more sought after as time passes. But the Tornado’s construction did not come at a low-cost. On the project’s onset, the initial cost for the Tornado was at £1.6 million but because of gradual price increase and inflation over the years, the cost almost doubled at £3 million and the dateof completion was moved back by two years.
The Tornado set out its first test-run in July 29, 2008 at Darlington along Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire on the Great Central Railway in Loughborough, a preserved double track railway meant to both entertain tourists and carry people to their destinations.
The Tornado’s speed reached up to 121 km/h (75 mph) and being painted in apple green color made the Tornado a 21st century passenger train. In January 31, 2009, the Tornado made its first run to transport passengers. The cost to put together the Tornado formed debt for its makers and making it a passenger train is a way to be able to pay off those debts.
A steam engine train like the Tornado can reach speeds of up to 160 kmh but because its use is more of for show than means of transport, it’s only limited to 140 kmh.
The original color of the Tornado was grey and the logo on the side of its coal-car at first wore the A1 Trust’s website. Once its color was repainted to apple green to honor the the 1940’s locomotives, the tender’sdecals were changed to British Railways.
The National Railway Museum was the one in charge of painting the Tornado and they did it by using paint brushes and by hand in front of 500 people.
Due to the effort and the cost poured in the Tornado’s building, Bachmann trains has honored this new age classic in one of their limited edition model train collection. The Bachmann 32-550A Class A1 60163 ‘Tornado’ has captured every detail of the life-size Tornado and will be a valuable piece to one’s model trains collection.