New build A1 Class locomotive, No. 60163 Tornado, is approaching the end of a major overhaul.
The locomotive was committed to visit the Nene Valley Railway (NVR) as its first official engagement at the end of March. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible due to work on the locomotive being extended, and consequently leaving insufficient time for testing before visiting the heritage line.
Whilst it is extremely disappointing to miss the Easter event, we are committed to Tornado visiting NVR this spring and will instead be operating from Wansford on 21st – 27th May. For more details, and to book tickets to travel, please see www.nvr.org.uk
Chairman of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, Steve Davies, MBE, said: “Tornado's overhaul, combined with the fitting of ETCS, is rapidly approaching completion. There have been the inevitable interruptions one would expect with a project of this complexity, and both ourselves and the Nene Valley Railway agree that the best approach to remove the risk involved is to push Tornado's appearance slightly to the right. The NVR team are now working on the revised schedule which we hope will not inconvenience too many. It is always a pleasure to operate at the Nene Valley and we look forward to renewing old acquaintances.”
After two years away from the rails, Tornado is due to begin static testing at the end of March, with main line and ETCS testing in April, before commencing on a full diary of railtours and heritage line visits this year.