Tornado, the new £3m steam locomotive named last year by TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, with be returning to Wales on St David’s Day, Monday 1st March, with 'The Cathedrals Express' excursion from London Victoria to Cardiff and Swansea.
The timings for ‘The Cathedrals Express’ are:
London Victoria (Platform 2) 08:45hrs
Kensington Olympia 09:07hrs
Acton Main Line 09:36hrs
Southall 09:44hrs
Slough (Platform 4) 10:02-10:06hrs
Maidenhead 10:14hrs
Reading (Platform 8) 10:26-10:28hrs
Didcot Parkway 10:48hrs
Wantage Road 10:54hrs
Challow (water loco) 10:59-11:11hrs
Swindon 1123hrs
Wootton Bassett Junction 1130hrs
Hullavington 1139hrs
Bristol Parkway (water loco) 1202 - 1216hrs
Severn Tunnel Junction 1230hrs
Newport (South Wales) 1242hrs
Cardiff Central (Platform 4) 1303 - 1308hrs
Pontyclun 1320hrs
Bridgend 1329hrs
Port Talbot Parkway 1344hrs
Neath 1351hrs
Swansea (Platform 1) 1410hrs
Swansea (Platform 1) 17:33hrs
Neath 17:46hrs
Port Talbot Parkway 17:52hrs
Bridgend 1808hrs
Pontyclun 1819hrs
Cardiff Central (Platform 4) 1832 - 1834hrs
Newport (South Wales) 1854hrs
Severn Tunnel Junction 1915hrs
Bristol Parkway (water loco) 1930 - 1945hrs
Hullavington 2004hrs
Wootton Bassett Junction 2016hrs
Swindon 2034hrs
Challow 2049hrs
Wantage Road (water loco) 2054 - 2109hrs
Didcot Parkway 2115hrs
Reading (Platform 5) 2131 - 2133hrs
Maidenhead 2146hrs
Slough (Platform 5) 2153 - 2156hrs
Southall 2211hrs
Acton Main Line 2220hrs
Kensington Olympia 2239hrs
London Victoria (Platform 2) 2259hrs
Tornado starred in an episode of ‘Top Gear’, first shown in 2009 and watched by over seven million people, racing a Jaguar XK120 car and Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle from London to Edinburgh, with presenter Jeremy Clarkson on-board. The new £3m Peppercorn class A1 pacific steam locomotive was built over almost 20 years by The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, a registered charity, at its Darlington Locomotive Works. Frequently headlined in the press and on TV, 60163 Tornado was the subject of a BBC documentary ‘Absolutely Chuffed: The Men Who Built a Steam Engine’ broadcast on Christmas Eve on BBC2 last year and now available from the Trust on DVD. The locomotive was officially named Tornado by TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in February 2009 and has since entered service on excursion trains on the Network Rail main line.
Mark Allatt, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said:
“There could be no more appropriate day than St David’s Day for Tornado to return to Wales. Having been officially named Tornado by TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in February 2009, the locomotive was once more entrusted with The Royal Train on the Royal couple’s recent visit to Manchester.”
For last minute bookings on 'The Cathedrals Express' or availability please call the Steam Dreams mobile on 07775 735 005 on Monday morning.
The Trust respectfully requests that anyone wanting to see Tornado's main line passenger trains follows the rules of the railway and only goes where permitted.