£½ MILLION BOND ISSUE REACHES HALFWAY POINT
New steam locomotive on track to be in steam by end of 2007
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity that is building the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for over 40 years at a cost of over £2m, today announced that its a £500,000, 4% unsecured bearer bond issue had now reached the half-way point. £250,000 has been received in commitments from supporters who want to see No. 60163 Tornado completed as soon as possible. The Trust is now in the process of securing the remaining institutional finance for the completion of Tornado, which will be ‘unlocked’ once the residual half of the bond issue has been taken up.
With the funding now almost in place, the Trust is confident of being able to place the order for the boiler as soon as the necessary redesign work is complete. This will mean that the Trust can achieve its goal of No. 60163 Tornado completed by the end of 2007 and running on the mainline in 2008.
Mark Allatt, chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust commented: “We are delighted that supporters of the Trust have already committed £¼m to our bond issue. We are now looking to railway enthusiasts throughout the country to help us complete Tornado through taking up the remaining £250,000 of our bond issue.
“We are confident that subject to the full take up of our £½m bond issue, the agreement of a facility with a financial institution and the continued steady growth in our number of covenanting supporters, Tornado can be in steam by the end of 2007. This would then see No. 60163 entering mainline service in 2008.
“Ten years after construction started, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is still the only organisation to have made significant progress towards building a brand new ‘modern’ steam locomotive following British Railway’s last one in 1960 and we have now raised and spent in excess of £1m on the project.”