FIRST MOTION COMPONENTS FOR NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE DELIVERED
250 attend Convention to see Tornado’s ‘face’ for the first time
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for almost 40 years at a cost of over £1.6 million, today announced that the first complete motion - the equivalent of a car’s gearbox - components have been delivered to it’s Darlington Locomotive Works (DLW). The three slidebars, one for each of its three sets of motion, were forged by John Hesketh & Son at Bury and machined by Ufone Precision Engineers at Rowley Regis and will be fitted to No. 60163 Tornado by March 2000. The slidebars were paid for under the Trust’s ‘dedicated covenant scheme’ at a total cost of £5,000. The total cost of the three sets of motion for Tornado will be around £130,000.
At the Trust’s recent Annual Convention for its covenantors, over 250 donors gathered to witness the unveiling for the first time of many significant components of No. 60163 Tornado including a wheelset from the 6ft8in driving and 3ft8in cartazzi (rear) wheelsets. The highlight of the day was the unveiling of the mounted smokebox and smoke deflectors, complete with chimney - giving Tornado her ‘face’ for the first time.
Mark Allatt, marketing director of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented: “The delivery of the first motion components for Tornado is a major step forward for the Trust in its project to build a new Peppercorn class A1 steam locomotive.
“Drawings are currently being prepared for the boiler, modifying the original design to reflect modern health & safety and construction techniques. The banner hung on Tornado for our Annual Convention states ‘£250,000 needed to fill this gap’ - representing the money needed to complete the boiler. With work now being carried out on the wheelsets, motion, boiler and tenders it is only the rate at which funds can be raised is determining the date on which Tornado will be steamed.”