Over the last month the situation has been fluid, as happens with many projects as they reach their conclusion. There have been many variations to the plan, making updates before this time difficult as they would have risked being out of date as they were posted. Suffice to say we have faced unanticipated challenges in the area of coded welding, a matter that has affected a number of heritage railway projects as well as our own.

On reassembly of the boiler and its fittings, we needed to undertake some work to the gauge frame pads. Due to the paperwork required and the level of welding necessary, this was not the straightforward task we had anticipated as our regular welder was no longer available to us. It proved exceedingly difficult to source a qualified coded welder for the task, as within the small pool who could undertake the work, personal circumstances delayed progress and the plan to complete this work changed numerous times. We lost time in this delay, but parallel work has been continuing as far as possible.

Once the gauge frames were secured, it was appropriate to undertake a hydraulic test to reset the seven-year ticket. This took place last Wednesday 1^st May. The boiler passed the hydraulic test, however one stay on the righthand side was weeping, suggesting a very small crack. The boiler has had several hydraulic and steam tests, and this had not presented previously. The stay was removed and, as is necessary, the team then inspected the surrounding stays (as they can suffer damage compensating for the adjacent cracked stay). A reasonable number were found to need replacing. This raised concerns for the left-hand side of the boiler, and we subsequently found a smaller number that required replacing on that side.

We have again suffered from the availability of skilled welders to carry out this work. It was hoped that this could have been completed last week, but it is now planned to be completed the week of Monday 13^th May.

In parallel, work on the backhead and cab is progressing, and the cab and engine will be reunited next week following the welding. Final pipework will then be attached. It is our intention for the engine to the leave Locomotive Maintenance Services (LMS) the week of 20^th May, subject to the welding being complete in good time, and static testing will commence thereafter.

Unfortunately, this additional work has pushed back the date that the locomotive will be ready for running with passengers and as such we are terribly disappointed to cancel our visit to the Nene Valley Railway. Our sincere apologies go out to all those who have made arrangements to see the A1 over the bank holiday weekend. We have tried every scenario to honour this commitment but in the end it has simply not been possible. We are working hard with the NVR to ensure we visit them soon which is likely to be in August.

Amidst these challenges, a milestone has been reached: Tornado’s tender is now out of the LMS works and is residing in the shed at the Great Central Railway. All major work on the tender is complete, and minor tasks will be completed both in the interim and after the tender and engine are reunited. There will also be a number of ETCS tests now possible as we continue that work.

The overhaul has cost the Trust approaching £1million pounds, and the extended time frame means Tornado has lost income anticipated from earnings running trains during that time. Our thanks go to all of our Covenantors for their continued support throughout the overhaul. If you wish to make a donation to Tornado, please click here.